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A GOVERNMENT TEXT-BOOK 



FOR IOWA SCHOOLS. 



B-Z- JESSE 3UC-A.CTZ-, -A.. HUE. 



GOVERNMENT TEXT- BOOK 



IOWA SCHOOLS 



/ 

BY JESSE MACY, A. M., 
ft 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE IN IOWA COLLEGE. 



GRINNELL, IOWA: 

PRINTED AT THE HERALD OFFICE. 

l88 5 . 






COPYRIGHT, 1885, BY J. MACY. 



S. A. Cravath, Publisher, Grinnell, Iowa. 



Preface. 



Four years ago, in response to a request of some of the county su- 
perintendents of the state, a pamphlet on Civil Government in Iowa, 
was prepared, the object of which was to assist teachers in giving oral 
instruction on local government in the state. Several thousand cop- 
ies of the pamphlet have gone into the hands of the teachers of the 
state. Teachers have given oral instruction on local government; 
some have had marked success in carrying out the line of instruction 
indicated. But from the time the pamphlet was published the author 
has been met by the objection, coming from the best educators in all 
parts of the state, that the plan of instruction requires more than the 
average teacher can be expected to do. It is not to be expected that 
the teacher can have a Code of the state at hand all the time and use 
it with ease and efficiency. There is need of a book containing more 
information, which may be used by both teacher and pupil. 

In response to this demand the following Text-Book has been pre- 
pared. The author is still of the opinion that the best teaching in 
civil government may be done by those who learn directly from the 
actual government about them, the lessons which they teach. No 
text-book can be made which can serve as a substitute for this direct 
observation and study. Wise teachers will illustrate the text by ex- 
amples and incidents drawn from actual observations. They will 
encourage their pupils to observe for themselves the business and the 
methods of local governments about them. A text-book may be of 
great value if used simply to furnish texts for original study and 
observation. 

When Edward A. Freeman, England's great historian, visited 
America, he desired above all things to attend a New England town 
meeting. In his opinion, the township is more important in the gov- 
ernment and history of America than is the Congress of the United 
States and the Departments at Washington. Advanced scholarship 



(4) 

is giving more attention to local government. The Federal Govern- 
ment is never understood by one who is not familiar with the govern- 
ment of a state. To attempt to give a knowledge of the Federal 
Government to one who is ignorant of the local government of a 
state, is to attempt an impossibility. In such an attempt more error 
than truth is likely to be taught. But both State and Federal Gov- 
ernment are easily understood when the facts are presented in their 
true historical order. 

This first edition is issued in pamphlet form for trial in the hands of 
teachers. The author earnestly solicits suggestions, corrections, and 
criticisms from the teachers of the state. Should it be found helpful, 
the book will be put into a more permanent and convenient form. 

Iowa College, May, 1885. 



Contents. 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. — Origin of Government in England and America 7 

Township; Hundred; English Conquer Britons; Kings; 
Shires; Sheriffs; Taxes; Lords; Normans; Great 
Council; Parliament; Growth of Liberty ; English in 
America. 

II. — Origin of Government in Iowa 12 

III. — Local School Government 14 

Historical Sketch; Sub-District System; Elections; Or- 
ganization of Board of Directors; Sub-Directors; Offi- 
cers of the Board; President, Secretary, Treasurer; 
Independent Districts in the Country; Towns; Entire 
Township made into one Independent District. 

IV. — Support of Schools 19 

Permanent School Fund; Local Taxation; Limitations 
upon the Power of Taxation ; Bonds. 



(5) 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

V. — The Township 20 

Congressional Survey ; Definition and Relation to Town 
and City Governments; Voting Precinct; Road Busi- 
ness; Poor; Board of Equalization; Health Officers; 
Clerk; Assessor. 

VI. — Towns and Cities 25 

Reasons for Special Government for Cities; Relations 
to Township; Organization of Incorporated Towns; 
Officers and their Duties; City of Second Class; City 
of First Class; Special Charters. 

VII. — County Government 28 

County Seat; Officers; County Superintendent; Rela- 
tion to Township ; Poor ; Taxation ; Special County 
Business; Valuable Records; Prisons; Meetings of 
Board of Supervisors; Auditor; Treasurer; Township 
Collectors; Titles to Land; Recorder. 
VIII. — County Clerk 34 

IX.— Land Surveys 35 

U. S. System; Base Line; Principal Meridian; Range; 
Number; Correction Lines ; Location of Correction 
Lines in Iowa; Survey of the Township; Sections; 
"Corners;" Location of Land ; County Surveys. 

X. — State Government and State Institutions 39 

Educational Work of the State; the University; Agricul- 
tural College; Normal School ; Colleges for the Blind, 
Deaf Mutes, Feeble-Minded Children; Reform Schools; 
Orphan's Home; Hospitals for the Insane; Penitentia- 
ries; Boards of Management. 

XI. — Officers of the State 41 

General Assembly; Law-Making; Governor; Secretary 
of State; Auditor; Treasurer; Executive Council. 

XII. — The Administration of Justice 45 

Essential Part of Government; Justice of Peace; Ori- 
gin of the Office in England; Transplanted to 
America; Duties of, in Iowa; Change of Venue; Ha- 
beas Corpus; Constables. 

XIII. — Sheriff and Coroner 49 

Historical Sketch; Town Reeve; Shire Reeve; Du- 
ties; Coroner; Origin of; History; Duties. 



<«) 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

XIV. — District and Circuit Courts 51 

Historical Sketch; Jurisdiction of the two Courts; 
District Attorney. 
XV. — Supreme Court 53 

Number of Judges and Places of Meeting; Duties; 
Records; Attorney General. 

XVI.— Juries 54 

First Jury in Iowa; Origin of; Town Meetings of Sax- 
on Ancestors; Compurgators; Ordeal; Ethelred's 
Jury 991, A. D.; Norman Recognitors ; Jury and 
Magna Charta; Norman and English Methods of 
Trial; Both Norman and English Required to Form 
the Jury System; Growth of Modern Jury; Juries 
in Iowa. 

XVII. — Notary Public 62 

Origin Among the Romans; Found in all Civilized 
Nations; County Officers; Duties; Commissioners. 

XVIII. — Departments of Government 63 

Three: Legislative, Executive, Judicial; Too Much 
Law-Making; Number of Executive Officers in 
the State ; Governor has not much to do with the 
Execution of Laws; Courts as Related to Execu- 
tive, to Legislation ; Division of Minor Offices. 

XIX. — The State and National Government 68 

Duties of Federal Government; Postal Service; Com- 
merce; Money; Form compared with State; Civil 
Service ; Constitutions. 

XX. — Compensation of Officers 73 

XXI. — Suggestions for Original Study 77 

Appendix 79 



CHAPTER I. 

ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND AND 
AMERICA. 



The people of Iowa are subject to five governments. These are 
the school district, the civil township, the county, the state, and the 
United States. Those who live in an incorporated town or city are 
subject to an additional government of town or city. These govern- 
ments are all closely connected with each other, yet they all have 
separate and independent functions. The last of these six govern- 
ments to )e organized was the school district. The work of educating 
the people has been recently assumed by the state; the school district 
was organized to do this work. The oldest of these governments is 
the township. 

We get our town, township, and county governments from Eng- 
land. Two thousand years ago our English ancestors lived in north- 
ern Germany and Denmark. They dwelt in villages. A few families 
and kinsfolk built their houses near a spring or a stream of water. 
Around the houses they arranged a hedge, which they called a tun. 
The surrounding country was arranged in fields and was called a 
tun-scipe or township. In the earliest times a large part of the 
government was confined to the township. The free townsmen were 
accustomed to assemble in town meeting and attend to all affairs of 
common interest. 

In time of danger the townsmen in the German village were called 
together by their head man, tithingman or town reeve, and they went 
forth to repel the enemy or to unite with other villagers to form a 
larger force. Neighboring towns were accustomed to unite and make 
up a company of a hundred warriors. These chose a head man and 
stood together in the fight. If the war was extended the hundred 
united with other hundreds, made up in like manner, and thus formed 
an army or host. A leader of the host served during the war, and at 
the close of the war all returned to the villages out of which they had 
come. 



(8) 

The hundred warriors of our ancestors formed not merely a com- 
pany in the army, they formed a government as well. The town- 
meeting of the township attended to their own local affairs; but cases 
affecting persons from other towns, and cases too difficult to be settled 
in the little town-meeting were carried to the general meeting of the 
hundred. At first it is likely that all the freemen of the towns had a 
right to attend and take part in the meetings of the hundred. But in 
course of time the hundred meeting, or the hundred court, as it was 
called, came to be a representative body. To it came twelve chosen 
men from the hundred at large and four best men and the reeve from 
each township. 

In 449 A. D. the English people began to move from Denmark and 
northern Germany and to settle in England. They waged a fierce 
war with the Britons. Gradually the Britons were driven to the west 
and their lands occupied by Englishmen. This was a long and te- 
dious process; it took hundreds of years to subdue the Britons. In 
course of time however the eastern part of the island became England, 
and the Britons were driven into what we now call Wales. 

To the new country the English brought their old customs. Upon 
the banks of English rivers there appeared the little group of houses 
surrounded by the hedge, or tun, around which was the township. 
Neighboring towns sent their representatives to the hundred court as 
of old. These centuries of war against the Britons caused changes in 
the government. In the old country they had no kings; they were 
governed for the most part by town meetings and hundred courts. In 
time of war a leader for the occasion was named. In the new coun- 
try wars were more common; the leader of the army became a per 
manent officer. In course of time he became a king. 

The Britons w r ere not displaced by one army of Germans, or Eng- 
lishmen; different armies from different German tribes came at differ- 
ent times during these centuries of conquest. Many small kingdoms 
were formed in the island. These English kings did not rule with 
absolute power. The local governments of township and hundred 
remained. The king's government attended to matters of war and 
peace and a few other things of general interest. In the exercise of 
these powers the king did not act alone; he could do nothing except 
through the co-operation of his people. A popular assembly sur- 
rounded the king and determined his action. 

So soon as the English kings were freed from the danger of being 
overcome by Britons they began to contend with each other for su- 
premacy. This again led to centuries of war. In course of time all 
weaker kings were overcome and England was united under one 



(9) 



English king. The former petty kingdoms then became parts, or 
shares, of a larger kingdom. These shares, or shires, as they were 
called, became permanent divisions of the Kingdom of England. We 
should not get the impression that the fifty shires, or counties, of 
England were all of them at one time petty kingdoms. The oldest of 
these were once kingdoms; others had a different origin. 

The county government had its origin at a time when the petty 
English kings ruled through a popular assembly; the petty king was 
crushed out by a more powerful king and the popular assembly re- 
mained as a local county government. Instead of the king who was 
formerly the president of the assembly we have now the shire reeve, 
sheriff*, sometimes appointed by the king, at other times chosen by 
the county. The organization of the county court followed closely 
the model of the hundred court. To it came knights from the shire 
at large; to it also came twelve chief men from each hundred and 
four best men and a reeve from each township. The county court 
gradually absorbed much of the business of the hundred court. These N 
courts attended to all sorts of business. 

We have thus traced four distinct parts of the English constitution. 
These are the township, the hundred, the county, and the king's gov- 
ernment. The township is governed by a democratic town meeting; 
the hundred and county are governed by representative bodies called 
courts. The king's government in course of time ceased to be a pop- 
ular government. The wise men who were his counsellors were not 
chosen by the people. They held their place for life or during the 
pleasure of the king. The king's government, however, did not ordi- 
narily act upon the people except through the local governments of 
county, hundred, and town. If the king needed money he sent a let- 
ter to the sheriff, who presented the case to the people's representatives 
in county court and a tax was voted by them. 

From the earliest times there is evidence that local chiefs or great 
men often gained control of the weaker townships. During the long 
and brutal wars which resulted in the establishment of kings in Eng- 
land, the local chiefs increased in number and in power, and they 
came to be called lords. The lords built for themselves strong castles 
in the country apart from the people ; they took from the people their 
lands, and the people became their serfs, or slaves. The greater part 
of the townships fell into the hands of lords, and took the name of 
manors, a term applied to a lord's estate. Only in the stronger and 
more thoroughly fortified towns which were called boroughs, did the 
older liberties survive. The hundred and county courts came to be 
controlled, in large part, by the lords who lived in castles. These 



(10) 

courts however still preserved the old forms of a popular assembly. 

In 1066 A. D. the Normans conquered England. A Norman king 
ruled over England and Norman lords displaced the English lords. 
The English people seemed to be in the hands of tyrants, though they 
had still the hundred and county courts. The first Norman king set 
the example of giving to English towns charters,* preserving to 
them some of their ancient liberties. Other kings sought money 
or favors from towns by giving them charters. Great lords likewise 
granted charters to towns on their estates in return for money. In 
this way through centuries of tyranny the seeds of liberty were pre- 
served in the English towns. 

The kings of England were still dependent upon the local govern- 
ments of county and town for taxation. The king's sheriff still ar- 
ranged for the king's tax with the representatives of shire and borough 
in county court. In the time of Edward I it became customary for 
the king, through the sheriff, to request the county court to select two 
knights from the shire and two burghers from each borough to attend 
the meetings of his Great Council. His chief object in this was to 
get more money by arranging his taxes in person with the represent- 
atives of shires and boroughs. These representatives came, in course 
of time, to meet in a separate place and received the name of House 
of Commons. The great lords and bishops who formed the King's 
Council before the addition of representatives from shires and bor- 
oughs came to be known as the House of Lords; the two houses 
form the English Parliament. 

The members of the House of Commons learned their politics in 
the hundred and county courts, and in the town meetings of the 
borough. These had preserved the forms and much of the substance 
of ancient English liberty. During the seventeenth century there 
was a fierce contest in England between the kings, who claimed the 
right to rule without reference to the wishes of Parliament, and the 
House of Commons, w r ho claimed that the king was bound to rule ac- 
cording to the laws of Parliament. In this contest one king was 
beheaded and another was driven from the realm and his family ex- 
cluded from the throne. The House of Commons triumphed. Par- 
liament took one family off the throne and put another on. 

During the century in which the English people were establishing 
the right to be governed by their own representatives, twelve English 
colonies were founded in America. The Englishmen w T ho came to 



*These charters were forerunners of the charters of liberty given to English 
colonies in America. 



(11) 

America, for the most part, sympathized with the Parliament in its 
struggles for liberty ; many of them came for the express purpose of 
avoiding the tyranny of the English king. In America the English- 
men found a favorable opportunity for the establishment of the insti- 
tutions of popular government. 

The first local governments founded by Englishmen in America 
took the form of the English shire or the English town. The hun- 
dred had at this time ceased to be a government of much consequence; 
yet three of the eleven local governments represented in the first 
colonial assembly in Virginia were called hundreds. In the northern 
colonies the prevailing form for local government was the town, or 
township; in the south the prevailing form was the shire, or county. 
In New England especially do we find conditions most favorable for 
the reproduction of the old-fashioned English tun and tun-scipe. 

The founders of New England colonies were familiar with the gov- 
ernment of English townships and boroughs; they were Independents 
in church government; the soil and climate were best suited to farm- 
ing on a small scale; they were surrounded by enemies formidable 
enough to cause them to place their houses near together. Hence 
local government in New England was established and remains al- 
most entirely in the hands of towns. In the South, on the other 
hand, we have men more familiar with English shires; they were 
Episcopalian in church government; the soil and climate were suited 
to large plantations; there were few enemies, so that they could spread 
out at will. Here we have to the present day local government al- 
most entirely in the hands of counties. In the other colonies local 
government was divided between counties and townships. These 
English townships and counties in America united and formed com- 
monwealths upon the English model with the king and lords left out. 
When an English king and an English Parliament proposed to violate 
the English constitution by taxing these commonwealths without 
their consent they threw off all allegiance to the British government 
and formed a national government of their own. 

Thus we see that the English township and the English county, kept 
alive through ages of war and tyranny, have for England furnished the 
foundation upon which popular government is being established; while 
in America, out of these venerable institutions, has been built up a group 
of free commonwealths and a Federal government without the inter- 
vention of kings or lords. In England, towns, hundreds and counties 
were united into general governments through violence and war. 
This led to despotism and tyranny. In America, towns, townships, 
and counties, have been united into commonwealths and the com- 



(12) 



monwealths into a Federal Government through discussion, through 
mutual agreement, and mutual concessions. In this process liberty 
has been preserved and made more secure at each step. 



ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENT IN IOWA. 



Iowa was a part of that vast territorial claim which the English 
government founded upon the discovery of the Cabots. In the latter 
part of the seventeenth century the French, who had already occupied 
Canada, made their way to the upper Mississippi, They explored the 
river from Minnesota to Louisiana and made settlements at different 
points along its banks, and claimed all the territory drained by it. 
Iowa was thus claimed by France from 1673, when Father Marquette 
first landed on Iowa soil, till the great French and Indian War. At 
the close of the French and Indian War the French gave up all their 
claims in America. Louisiana and the territory west of the Mississip- 
pi passed into the hands of Spain. This territory was ceded back to 
France in 1800, and was sold to the United States in 1803. Thus we 
see that Iowa has been claimed by England and by France; it has 
been recognized by treaty as belonging first to Spain, then to France, 
and lastly to the United States. 

Since Iowa has been a part of the dominion of the United States it 
has by law of Congress been connected with the territorial govern- 
ments of Louisiana, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin. In 
1838 Iowa was made into a separate territorial government embracing 
a large part of Minnesota. The people of Iowa adopted a state con- 
stitution and Iowa became a state in 1846. 

During the greater part of the time in which Iowa was being passed 
around between the different territories by law of Congress, there 
were no white persons in the territory; the land was in the hands of 
various Indian tribes. From 182 1, when Missouri was made a state, 
to 1834 when Iowa was connected with the territory of Michigan, 
Iowa seems to have been left without connection with any govern- 
in ■: it It was during this period that the first settlements of white 
me : m These settlements began in 1830. 

In June of this year a company of miners crossed the Mississippi and 
began to work the lead mines of Dubuque. They organized them- 
selves into an independent civil government and adopted a brief code 



(13) 



of laws to govern their action. For nearly two years they were pre- 
vented from carrying on their mining operations by the United States 
army sent to protect the rights of the Indians. At the close of the 
Black Hawk War in 1832, the Indian title was extinguished and the 
miners were at hand to renew their labors. 

No provision had been made for the government of the territory. 
The land had not been surveyed. Yet multitudes came across the 
River and established themselves as settlers. The mining camp at 
Dubuque was soon occupied by thousands of persons. Settlements 
were made at Burlington, Keokuk, Fort Madison, and other places. 
These early Iowans imitated the example of their ancestors. They 
found a goodly land; they settled upon it and began to plant the seeds 
of a free commonwealth. When English, Saxons, and Jutes came 
into Britain they grouped themselves together in little townships. 
When our forefathers were on the Mayflower they drew up a simple 
compact and organized themselves into a free body politic; they 
landed at Plymouth and planted the first New England town. The 
miners at Dubuque formed for themselves a free democratic govern- 
ment. In other parts of the state wherever the settlers came there 
appeared a little free civil government formed by the voluntary asso- 
ciation of its members. 

The early settlers of Iowa were from different states. Some were 
familiar with the town government as it exists in New England; 
others were familiar with the county government as it exists in the 
south; still others were familiar with local governments in which the 
power is divided between township and county, such as exists in the 
middle states. Many of the early settlers had lived in Illinois. This 
state was first settled in the southern part by people from the south, 
who established the county system of local government. 

These various classes naturally strove to plant in the new territory 
their own peculiar institutions. The New Englanders favored the 
town-meeting and the township. The southerners- and those from 
Illinois favored the county. Those from Ohio and Pennsylvania nat- 
urally would divide local government between township and county. 
The laws made by the territorial legislature, and those made by the 
General Assembly after Iowa became a state bear testimony to the 
mixed character of the people. At one time local government was 
almost entirely in the hands of counties; at another time the laws 
provided for placing local government in the hands of townships after 
the manner of New England. The people were generally too far 
apart for this latter plan to succeed, and the final result has been a 
division of local government between township and county. 



(14) 



CH^DPTiEI^ III- 

LOCAL SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 



The work of education is done in part by parents. These may hire 
a teacher, or governess to come into the family and teach their chil- 
dren, or the children from a number of families may be collected into 
one room and a teacher employed for them. An individual may pro- 
vide a room, teach a school and require all who receive the benefits 
of it to pay for the service. Much of the work of education has been 
done by good men who have built houses and supplied them with all 
that was needful, and have placed money in the hands of trustees, the 
interest of which is used for meeting the expenses of the, school. 
Churches and various religious societies have done much for the edu- 
cation of youth. These various agencies may be relied upon to do a 
part of the work of education ; yet there is no way in which it can be 
made certain that all youth will be provided with the means of an ed- 
ucation unless the work is taken up by the ordinary civil government. 

There is an established church in England supported by the gov- 
ernment. When Englishmen settled in America they continued the 
policy of supporting the church by taxation. In New England, one 
of the first duties of the new town was to build a church and provide 
for the support of a pastor. It was customary in the earliest times to 
use the same building for both church and school. Often the pastor 
was also the school teacher. All the expenses of both church and 
school were met by taxation. In course of time in New England, as 
religious denominations increased in number, the church came to be 
supported by voluntary contribution, but the school continued to be 
supported by taxation. This was the origin of our public school sys- 
tem in America. From New England the system has been extended 
to other parts of the country. When Congress made provision for 
the government of the Northwest Territory the education of youth 
was recognized as a part of the work of government. After the plan 
of a public survey had been adopted the sixteenth section of land in 
each township was set apart for the support of public schools. 

Iowa, as we have seen, was settled at a time when there was no 
provision for governing the territory. The settlers banded them- 
selves together for mutual protection and government. Schools were 
established by the voluntary co-operation of such as were interested 
in the subject. For a time both government and education were car- 



(15) 



ried on by voluntary enterprise; so soon as there was a provision for 
the government of the people there was provision also for education 
by the government. When Iowa was made a part of Michigan in 
1834, tne laws of Michigan provided for education by the govern- 
ment. Iowa became a part of Wisconsin territory in 1836, and the 
laws of Wisconsin provided for public schools. When Iowa secured 
a territorial government of its own, during the first session of the leg- 
islature, a law was passed providing for the education at public ex- 
pense of all white children in the territory. The state constitution, 
which went into effect in 1846, recognized the education of youth as 
a part of the work of the state. Yet during all this time the govern- 
ment did none of the work of education. Schools were supported by 
voluntary association. The laws for the maintenance of schools were 
not enforced ; our public school system did not become general in the 
state until about 1855. Since that time the work has constantly 
grown and increased in importance. 

In the laws of Iowa you may find provision for nearly every form 
of local school government which has ever been invented. In the 
earliest times those school districts, which never existed outside of the 
statutes, had each seven officers. The district had an assessor and a 
tax collector of its own. The laws afterwards placed the work of col- 
lecting the school tax in the hands of the county or township. Our 
laws now provide for four varieties of local school government. 

The system of local school government in most general use in the 
state is the sub-district system. A law of the state makes every town- 
ship a district for school purposes. The district is first organized by 
the trustees of the civil township, who hold an election, and a school 
board is thus chosen. The school board proceeds to divide the town- 
ship into sub-districts, a tax is voted and a schoolhouse built in each 
sub-district. The township is usually divided into nine sub-districts. 

Five days before the first Monday in March of each year, it is the 
duty of the director in each sub-district to post in three public places 
in the district a notice of election. On the day appointed the electors 
meet at the hour specified in the notice, and choose a sub-director for 
the ensuing year. In this way as many sub-directors are chosen as 
there are sub-districts in the township. 

On the second Monday in March of each year our laws provide for 
a general meeting of all the voters in the township. At this annual 
meeting it is the duty of the electors to organize by choosing a presi- 
dent and secretary in case the president and secretary of the school 
board are absent. This meeting has power to authorize the sale of 
school property, to determine whether extra studies shall be taught in 



(16) 



the schools, to authorize the board to procure at the expense of the 
township public highways for the accommodation of the schools. All 
these duties may be committed, by a vote at the annual meeting, to 
the board of directors. The electors at the annual meeting are re- 
quired to vote any tax which may be necessary for building purposes. 
This meeting of the voters of the township is usually attended by few 
persons. A few of the school officers come together on that day and 
pass the necessary votes, and the business which the law puts into 
the hands of all the voters of the township is really transacted by 
fewer persons than is the other business put by law into the hands of 
the school board. 

The sub-directors chosen at the annual election on the first Monday 
in March are required by law to take the oath of office within two 
weeks of the date of election, and on the third Monday in March the 
sub-directors from all the districts in the township are required to 
meet and organize as the Board of Directors for the district township. 
They choose a President from their own number. They choose also 
a Secretary and Treasurer from their own number in case there are 
more than five directors. If there are less than five directors, the sec- 
retary and treasurer are chosen from the district township at large. 
The board of directors holds two regular meetings each year; one is 
in March, the other is in September. The school directors divide 
the township for school purposes; they locate and build schoolhouses 
and determine how many schools shall be taught. The law requires 
the board to consult the county Superintendent as to the most ap- 
proved plan before building a house. The board may establish union 
or graded schools in the township. They are required to provide in- 
struction for at least six months in the year for all persons of school 
age in the township. They may adopt text-books for the use of 
schools, but cannot change the books oftenerthan once in three years. 
They may provide the schools with maps, charts, dictionaries, and 
other apparatus. Libraries for the schools may be provided by vote 
of the electors at the annual meeting on the second Monday in March. 
The directors have an oversight of the expenditures of the district 
township and are required to secure the township against loss by fix- 
ing a bond for their treasurer and secretary. It is the duty of the 
members of the board to visit the schools and assist the teachers in 
governing them. 

The board of directors, as we have seen, is composed of sub-direct- 
ors chosen in the sub-districts. Each sub-director, in addition to his 
duties as a member of the board, has some special duties in his own 
sub-district. The board of directors determine what wages shall be 



(17) 



paid to teachers, and each director in his own district selects and hires 
a teacher. The teacher and sub-director govern the school, but the 
board, if they choose, may adopt rules and regulations for the govern- 
ment of the school. The consent of the board is required before a 
pupil can be permanently excluded from school. 

The officers of the school board are President, Secretary, and Treas- 
urer. The president is chairman of the board of directors. He draws 
all drafts upon the county for money, and signs all orders on the 
treasury. He signs all contracts made by the board, and he appears 
on behalf of the district in all cases at law. 

The secretary keeps a record of all the proceedings of the board of 
directors. He countersigns all drafts and orders drawn by the presi- 
dent, and keeps a record of the same. He keeps an account of the 
expenses of the district township and reports the same to the board; 
gives notice to county superintendent of the beginning of each term 
of school and the length of term. Between the fifteenth and twenti- 
eth of September of each year the secretary is required to make a re- 
port to the county superintendent containing the following items: 
The number of persons in the township between the ages of five and 
twenty-one; the number of schools and the branches taught; the num- 
ber of pupils and the average attendance in each school; the number 
of teachers and the average compensation; the length of school and 
the average cost per w r eek of tuition for each pupil; the text-books 
used; the number of volumes in the library, and the value of the ap- 
paratus belonging to the township; the number of schoolhouses and 
their value; the name, age and address of each blind, and deaf and 
dumb person in the township between the ages of five and twenty- 
one; the number of growing trees in each school-house yard. If the 
secretary fails to make this report as required by law he forfeits the 
sum of twenty-five dollars, and is required to make good all losses re- 
sulting from his failure, and his bondsman is held for the payment of 
this sum. 

The treasurer receives from .the county treasurer money belonging 
to the district, and pays it out on orders signed by the president and 
secretary. The treasurer is required to keep an account with three 
distinct funds: The school-house, contingent, and teacher's fund. He 
is required to register all orders on the treasury. On the third Mon- 
day in September of each year he is required to make a full report to 
the school board, and send a copy of the same to the county superin- 
tendent. It will be seen by comparing the duties of the secretary and 
treasurer that each is required to keep a full account of the money re- 
ceived and paid out by the district township. 



(18) 



The district township or sub-district system was adopted by our leg- 
islature in 1862. At the same time the law provided for the organiz- 
ation of towns into independent school-districts. Where large num- 
bers are to be educated it may be desirable to have school more 
months in the year, teach more branches, grade the school, and do 
many things in a way differing from that of the country school. The 
question as to whether a town or village shall be made into an inde- 
pendent district is decided by a vote of the electors living within the 
proposed district. The law requires that there shall be at least two 
hundred persons living within the proposed district. If a majority of 
the voters favor the organization, the organization is completed by 
electing three directors if the district contains less than five hundred 
inhabitants, and six directors if the district contains five hundred or 
more These directors hold their office for three years, and, after the 
first election one-third of the board is elected each year. 

When an independent district has been organized the rest of the 
district remains organized for school purposes just as it was before; 
thus, if the township contained nine schools and nine sub-districts, and 
one of the sub-districts containing a town or village should be made 
into an independent district, the district township would remain as it 
was, but would contain only eight sub-districts. In all questions of 
local school management the independent district has no connection 
with the surrounding districts. 

The board of directors for the independent district is organized in a 
similar manner to the board of directors for the district township. 
They elect a president from their own number. They choose a treas- 
urer who is not a member of the board. The secretary, in districts 
where there are six directors, must be chosen outside of the board; in 
districts containing three directors the secretary may be a member of 
the board. The duties of these officers are similar in every respect to 
the duties of the corresponding officers in the district township. 

The independent district as thus described is designed for the espe- 
cial accommodation of towns and citjes. But many persons think 
that it w r ould be better for the country schools as well for each school 
or each sub-district to be in the hands of an independent school board. 
In 1872 our legislature passed a law giving to the district township 
the privilege of changing the sub-districts into independent districts. 
Many townships in the state made this change. After a few years 
the legislature withdrew this privilege, but permitted the independent 
country districts already organized to remain. The government of 
the independent country district is similar in every respect to that of 
the district for towns containing less than five hundred inhabitants. 



(19) 



There are three directors; a fourth man for treasurer; the president is 
a member of the board, and the secretary may be a member. 

Our laws also provide for the organization of the entire township 
into one independent district. This change may be effected by a ma- 
jority of the voters of the township. Where this plan of local school 
government is adopted it abolishes the sub-district and the sub-direc- 
tor, and the management of all the schools in the township is placed 
in the hands of aboard of directors chosen from the township. None 
of these various plans for organizing the country schools is allowed to 
change the organization of school government for towns and cities. 
These are allowed to maintain their independent school districts 
whatever may be the organization of the country schools around 
them. 



HAPTEE ITT. 

THE SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS. 



We have seen that the treasurer of each school board is required to 
keep a separate account with three distinct funds: the school-house, 
the contingent, and the teacher's fund. Of these three funds the teach- 
er's is the largest and most constant. The United States government 
gave to the state one section of land in each township and five hun- 
dred thousand acres in addition, to be used for the support of common 
schools. This land has been sold by the state and the proceeds is 
kept as a permanent school fund. The auditor of the state and the 
various county auditors have charge of this fund, and the money is 
loaned out and the interest is used for the payment of teachers. This 
fund is apportioned to the school districts in proportion to the number 
of persons in the district between the ages of five and twenty-one, and 
is used in the payment of teachers. The permanent school fund may 
be increased by the sale of the estates of deceased persons whose 
property comes in to the hands of the state. Fines and forfeitures 
which the state secures in the administration of the law increase the 
school fund of the state. 

From all these sources the amount is not sufficient to pay the teach- 
ers. It is the duty of the board of directors to estimate the additional 
sum necessary for the payment of the teachers each year and vote a 
tax for that purpose. The board of directors also vote a tax for the 
contingent fund. For the building of school-houses the law requires 



(20) 



that the tax shall be voted by the electors of the district at the annual 
meeting. These various sums are certified by the secretaries of the 
school boards of the county to the auditor of the county who is the 
clerk of the county board of supervisors. It is the duty of the board 
of supervisors to levy upon the respective districts the taxes voted by 
each district and they are collected along with the other taxes of the 
county. 

The law limits the amount of money that may be expended in any 
one year for the support of schools. For teachers the limit is fifteen 
dollars per pupil; for contingent expenses the limit is five dollars per 
pupil; for school-house fund the limit is ten mills on the dollar for all 
the taxable property in the district. If the district is in need of more 
money for the building of school-houses than the tax of ten mills on 
the dollar will produce, the electors at the annual meeting may au- 
thorize the board to borrow money and issue bonds of the district. 
Districts are not allowed to contract a debt for any other purpose than 
for securing of school-houses and grounds, and the indebtedness for 
this purpose cannot exceed five per cent of the assessed value of the 
property of the district If in any locality the people fail to organize 
school-districts, vote school taxes and support a school for at least six 
months in the year, they do not receive any portion of the permanent 
school fund. It is by withholding the school fund from localities not 
complying with the school law, that the state has been enabled to ex- 
tend the system to all places within its limits. The permanent school 
fund of the state is more than three and a half millions. The state 
expends more for education than for all other objects combined. 



CHAPTEE "V. 

THE TOWNSHIP. 



In 1796 Congress of the United States adopted a system of surveys 
in which the township was the chief division. The township in this 
survey is six miles square and is divided into sections of one square 
mile each. This system has been followed in all parts of the country 
west of Pennsylvania, and the township established by the United 
States survey serves the double purpose of locating land and furnish- 
ing the boundary for local government. One object of congress in 



(21) 

adopting this system was to encourage local township government. 
We have seen that in Iowa the district township for school purposes 
has the same limits as the civil township; and the civil township 
usually has the same limits as the township established by congres- 
sional survey. 

The civil township in Iowa is a local government for holding elec- 
tions, repairing roads, listing property, giving relief to the poor, and 
for other business of local interest. The officers of the civil township 
are three trustees, one clerk, a road supervisor for each road-district, 
one assessor, two or more justices of peace, and two or more consta- 
bles. The justices and constables are, in a certain sense, county offi- 
cers; yet they are elected by townships and if they remove from the 
township in which they are chosen they cease to be officers. The 
trustees are chosen for three years, but their terms of office are so ar- 
ranged that one is chosen each year. The other officers are chosen 
for two years. 

If there is within the limits of the township an incorporated town 
or city, the law requires that at least one of the justices shall live with- 
in the town. The voters within the town or city choose a separate 
assessor. The voters of the city are not allowed to vote for road-su- 
pervisors nor for the township assessor; they vote for all other town- 
ship officers. 

In the case of a district township for school purposes the people of 
a town or city may form an independent school district. The district 
township has no power to compel the town to become independent, 
but in the case of a civil township the voters living outside the town 
limits can compel the town or city to become a separate civil town- 
ship. This is effected by a majority of the voters outside the city 
signing a petition to the county supervisors asking them to organize 
the city into a civil township. It then becomes the duty of the super- 
visors to so organize the city. An independent school district formed 
by the people of a town or city, may include territory outside of the 
city limits. When a city is made into a civil township, the limits of 
city and township are the same. 

The civil township is a voting precinct. The trustees of the town- 
ship designate a place for holding elections. The township clerk 
gives notice of the time of holding elections. The trustees and clerk 
are required to prepare a list of the voters of the township. The trus- 
tees are judges of election. They appoint a clerk of the election, who, 
together with the township clerk, keeps a complete list of the persons 
voting. The trustees and the clerk have charge of the ballot-box. 
They count the votes cast for each candidate for office and make a list 



(22) 



of the same. In the case of township officers, the trustees decide who 
are elected ; for other officers, they send the list and the number of 
votes for each candidate, to the county supervisors. They replace all 
the ballots in the box and put the box in the hands of the clerk, to be 
kept by him till after the time has elapsed in which it is possible to 
contest the election. 

The trustees divide the township into road-districts, or, if they 
choose, they make the entire township into one district. The clerk of 
the township makes out a plat of the township, showing the location 
of each road and the boundary of each road-district; he is required to 
furnish to each road supervisor in the township a plat locating all the 
roads in his district. The law requires the trustees, at their regular 
meeting in April, to vote a tax for road purposes. This tax cannot 
be less than one mill nor more than five mills on the taxable property 
of the township. They also determine how the tax shall be paid, 
whether in money or labor, and, if they decide that it may be paid in 
labor, they fix the rate of wages. The road supervisor in each dis- 
trict collects the tax for his district and applies it to the improvement 
of roads. In addition to the tax voted by the trustees it is the duty of. 
the supervisor to require every able-bodied man between the ages of 
twenty-one and forty-five to work tw r o days on the highways each 
year, or pay an equivalent. 

The trustees of the township have various duties in the administra- 
tion of the poor-laws of the state. If a person comes into the town- 
ship who seems likely to become a charge to the government, it is 
the duty of a trustee, or any other officer in the township or county 
who may be required to furnish aid, who becomes aware of the fact, 
to give such a person a written warning to leave the county. If after 
such a warning the person becomes a charge to the county, the offi- 
cers may send the person to the county or state from which he came. 
It is the policy of government not to allow persons supported at pub- 
lic expense to wander from place to place. If a person remains in 
the county one year without receiving a written warning to leave the 
county, he thereby gains a '-settlement" and the county may be called 
upon to support him. 

The government expects every person, who is able, to support him- 
self. An able-bodied person applying for aid may be required to 
work upon the streets or highways. The near relatives of disabled 
persons are required to support them. Parents are required to sup- 
port their children ; children may be required to support their parents ; 
grand-children may be required to support their grand-parents, or 
grand-parents to support grand-children, in case they are in a condition 



(23) 

to do so without labor. If the near relatives refuse to support their 
kindred the trustees or county supervisors may bring an action in the 
circuit court and compel them to do so. 

If a person, who has gained a legal settlement in the county and 
who has no near relatives able to support him, applies to the trustees 
for aid, it is their duty to look into the case and furnish or refuse re- 
lief. If they decide to furnish relief they may do so by sending the 
person to the county poor-house or by giving him whatever they 
think is needful, in food, clothing, medical attendance, or money. If 
the trustees refuse aid the applicant may go to the county supervisors 
and they may order the trustees to furnish aid. Or, if the supervis- 
ors think that the trustees are giving aid unwisely, they may order 
them to with-hold aid. In all cases where aid is furnished by the 
trustees directly to the applicant, they are required to send a state- 
ment of the expense incurred to the auditor of the county, who pre- 
sents the bills to the board of supervisors. All bills for the relief of 
the poor are paid by the county, and the supervisors, if they choose, 
may take the entire business out of the hands of the trustees. But in 
counties where no poor-house is provided 'and where the supervisors 
make no provision for the poor, the trustees are required to take en- 
tire charge of the business. Yet in any case the county must meet 
the expenses incurred. 

The law gives to cities of the first class power to make provision 
for the poor. In cities of the first and second class the county super- 
visors may appoint an overseer of the poor, who may attend to all the 
duties which would otherwise belong to the trustees of the township 
in which the city is located. 

On the first Monday in April of each year the trustees are required 
to meet and proceed to revise and correct the assessor's book. If in 
their judgement any property has been valued too high or too low 
they change the valuation accordingly. If they discover that any 
taxable property has been omitted from the list they may correct the 
omission. If any tax-payer feels aggrieved at anything in the assess- 
ment of his property, he may state his grievance to the board and 
thev grant or refuse relief at their discretion. The aggrieved person 
may appeal from the decision of the board to the circuit court. 

The trustees are the health officers of the township. They may re- 
quire persons to be vaccinated; they may require the removal of filth 
which they deem injurious to health; they may adopt by-laws for the 
preservation of the health of the community, and enforce them by 
fine and imprisonment. 

A variety of other duties may be required of these officers; such as, 



(24) 



the viewing of fences, assessing damages in the case of trespassing 
animals, providing and keeping up cemeteries, filling vacancies in 
the offices of justice of peace and constable, seizing of property of per- 
sons who may be deserting poor relatives. 

The township clerk attends the meetings of the board of trustees, 
and keeps a record of their proceedings. Besides the duties which he 
has in connection with the trustees, he has various other duties. He 
is treasurer of the township, and as such he is required to give a bond 
to secure the township against loss. On the morning of each general 
election, he is required to post, at the place of voting, a detailed state- 
ment of all the money received and paid out by him during the year. 
The clerk makes out from the assessors' book a list of the road-taxes 
for each highway district, and furnishes a copy to the road supervis- 
or. If the supervisor does not collect all the tax, he reports the de- 
linquencies to the clerk, whose duty it is to report to the county 
auditor all the delinquent tax, on or before the second Monday in 
October of each year. The tax is then collected by the county treas- 
urer and paid over to the township clerk. 

The clerk administers the oath of office to the other township offi- 
cers and keeps a record of the same. He posts a notice of the results 
of township elections and notifies the county auditor of the persons 
elected. He receives the resignation of township officers. If he re- 
sign his own office the trustees receive his resignation. When there 
is a tie vote for a township officer, the clerk notifies the candidates to 
appear before him and decide the case by lot. 

The chief business of the assessor is to make a complete list of all 
the tax-payers and taxable property of the township, and affix the 
value of the taxable property. The law makes it the duty of each 
tax-payer to assist the assessor in making a complete list of his taxa- 
ble property. It is also made the duty of the assessor to require each 
tax-payer to make oath or affirmation that he has rendered a correct 
account of all taxable property in his possession. 

The assessor is required to begin his work on the third Monday in 
January of each year, and he is required to place in the hands of the 
township clerk a complete list before the first Tuesday in April. A 
second list is made by the assessor, containing all the corrections 
made by the board of trustees. This second list must be placed in 
the hands of the county auditor before the third Tuesday in May. 

In addition to the work of listing and valuing property, the assessor 
is required to make out a complete list of the voters of the township, 
and give a certified copy of the same to the township clerk. This 
list furnishes needed information to the clerk and the trustees in their 



(25) 

work as a board of registry for the township. The assessor is required 
to make out a list of all persons between the ages of eighteen and 
forty-five who are not exempted from military duty, and send the list 
to the county auditor. He is required to make a list of the children 
of deceased soldiers, and once in five years he is required to take the 
census of the township. 

The duties of the justice of peace and constable will be given in 
another chapter. 



CHAPTER VI. 

TOWNS AND CITIES. 



The township government, as it is organized and administered in 
this state, is especially adapted to people living apart on farms. Per- 
sons living together in large numbers need a government with more 
powers. The township trustees and highway supervisors usually 
make no provision for foot- travelers; they provide only for teams. 
Towns may need accommodations for pedestrians. Our laws do not 
give the civil township power to protect the citizens against fire. The 
courts may punish persons for setting fire to buildings, or starting 
prairie fires ; but persons living in town or city feel the need of more 
stringent laws to prevent the burning of buildings, and of especial 
provisions for extinguishing flames. The township trustees are the 
health officers of the township, but are not accustomed to act with suffi- 
cient energy to meet the needs of persons living in town or city. A 
farmer may be as noisy as he pleases, he may have bells and gongs and 
ring them at all hours of the day or night, and no one would be disposed 
to interfere with his liberty ; but towns-people find it desirable to use the 
power of the government to protect themselves against noise. The 
township trustees are overseers of the poor, and render temporary aid to 
needy persons, or send to the county-house persons permanently dis- 
abled. For the smaller towns this provision for the poor is all that is 
needed; but in the large cities the number needing temporary aid is 
often so large that it is necessary, or desirable, to build a house in 
which to take care of them. 

The town or city government takes the place, in large part, for the 
people living within the corporation, of the township government. 
The town has its own assessor, and the town or citv council is the 



(26) 



board of equalization for the corporation. They are the health offi- 
cers for the corporation ; they take entire charge of streets and high- 
ways ; they may do nearly everything which the officers of the civil 
township do, and many other things which the township officers can- 
not do. 

Yet, as our laws now are, towns and cities cannot hold general 
elections. These are held by township officers, or, where there are 
large cities, the county supervisors may divide the township for vot- 
ing purposes, and appoint judges of election for such precincts as do 
not contain a sufficient number of township trustees. In any case, 
the holding of general elections is not left to city governments. 

Town or city governments are organized to attend to ordinary civil 
matters and to meet the special and peculiar needs of the corporation. 
Our laws recognize and provide for four kinds of town and city gov- 
ernments. The most simple is the incorporated town. Whenever 
twenty-five voters living in the same vicinity, become dissatisfied 
with the ordinary township government and desire to form for them- 
selves a town government, they may make oat a town plat and apply 
to the circuit court for privilege to form a town government. It then 
becomes the duty of the court to name five commissioners to hold an 
election within the proposed corporation to determine the question 
whether a majority of the voters within the proposed town are in 
favor of a town organization. 

If a majority favors the change an election is held and town officers 
are chosen. 

The officers of an incorporated town are a mayor, a recorder, an as- 
sessor, and six trustees. The mayor and recorder serve one year, the 
assessor two years, and the trustees serve three years. After the first 
election two trustees are elected each year. These officers constitute 
the town council. The mayor is president of the council, and has a 
right to vote on all questions before it. The recorder is clerk of the 
council, and has no right to vote. The council elects a treasurer, and 
the recorder may be chosed to this office. The council also elects a 
marshal, and such other officers as they need. 

The town council makes all laws and ordinances which it deems 
necessary for the good order and government of the town. Towns 
are permitted by our laws to do a great many things, but they are re- 
quired to do only a few things. The council must take the place of 
township trustees as a board for equalizing taxes, and as health-offi- 
oers. They have entire care of streets and highways. In addition to 
these duties they may exercise any one of a large list of powers. Yet 
the powers of town or city government are strictly limited by the code 



(27) 



of the state; they can exercise no power not conferred by statute. 
They can prohibit billiard saloons within the corporate limits, because 
this power is expressly granted; they cannot prohibit the sale of to- 
bacco or strychnine because this power is not granted. The town 
council may pass any law they please in the exercise of granted pow- 
ers, and when a law is passed it becomes the duty of the mayor to see 
that the law is executed. The mayor is a conservator of the peace 
and he may also act as a court, having the same powers and governed 
by the same laws as a justice of peace. Cases of violations of town 
ordinances must be tried before the mayor if he is able to hold court; 
if he is not able, the case goes before a justice. The town marshal 
is a peace officer and has in general the same duties as the constable. 
He is a ministerial officer of either the mayor's or justice's court. 
The marshal may also be street commissioner, and have entire charge 
of streets, sewers, and sidewalks. 

When according to the census a town has attained a population of 
more than two thousand inhabitants, it may be organized as a city of 
the second class. A city of the second class is divided into not less than 
three wards, nor more than seven. Each ward elects two members of 
the city council. These officers hold their office two years and their 
terms are so arranged that one is elected each year. The mayor of a 
city of the second class is chosen annually, and has the same relation 
to the council lhat the corresponding officer does to town council, ex- 
cept that he cannot vote unless there is a tie. Instead of a recorder 
chosen by the people, the city council has a clerk chosen by themselves. 
The city must provide a seal to be used upon all legal papers. In- 
stead of a treasurer chosen by the council, as in incorporated towns, 
the city elects a treasurer each year, and a city solicitor is chosen an- 
nually. The city council elects a marshal, deputy marshals and po- 
lice officers, and may organize a board of health. 

The duties of officers in a city government do not differ from those 
of corresponding officers in incorporated towns. The city solicitor is 
a lawyer who gives legal advice to the city council, and appears on 
behalf of the city in cases at law. 

Whenever the inhabitants of a city reach the number of fifteen 
thousand, the organization is changed, and it is called a city of the first 
class. In cities of the first class one councilman is chosen from each 
ward and two councilmen at large are chosen by the electors of the 
city. These all serve two years. The mayor is chosen for two years. 
The marshal, treasurer, and solicitor, are all chosen by vote of the 
people, and their term of office is two years. In addition to these offi- 
cers, whose duties are similar to those of corresponding officers in a 



(28) 

city of the second class, a city of the first class elects, on each alter- 
nate year, a civil engineer, an auditor, a police judge, and a superin- 
tendent of markets. Various other officers may be provided for by 
city ordinances and filled by the mayor with consent of city council. 

Cities of the first class are allowed to exercise all the powers allowed 
to cities of lower grade and some additional powers. The city coun 
cil may prescribe the width of the tires of all vehicles habitually used 
in the streets, and they may fix rates for the transportation of persons 
and property within the city. 

Besides the incorporated town and the two classes of cities, there 
are several cities in the state which are governed in accordance with 
special charters received from the state legislature previous to the 
adoption of the new constitution in 1857. A city governed by a spe- 
cial charter is subject to general regulations of the legislature. In 
comparing the different kinds of local government in the state we find 
that as the population increases, the burden of government becomes 
greater, and the difficulties of government are increased. To a farmer 
living in the country it would seem tyrannical for the government to 
compel him to cease to use his wagon-tires and secure others of a dif- 
ferent width, to take on and put off" his load at a certain place, to 
charge only so much for each service rendered. Yet the city govern- 
ment does all these things and many others which under other cir- 
cumstances would be entirely unnecessary. 



CHAPTER TTII. 

COUNTY GOVERNMENT. 



The entire state of Iowa is divided into ninety-nine counties. 
Twenty -four miles square is a common size for a county. A county 
of this size usually contains sixteen townships, each six miles square. 
Each county has a capital, or established place of doing business. 
The capital, or county-seat, cannot be moved unless a majority of the 
legal voters of the county sign a petition to the supervisors of the 
county. The supervisors, upon the receipt of such a petition, order 
an election, at which all the voters in the county are privileged to 
vote for or against removal. If a majority of the votes cast are for re- 
moval, the county-seat is moved. 



(29) 



At the general election in the fall the people of each county choose 
county officers. These are, a superintendent of public instruction, 
three supervisors, an auditor, a treasurer, a recorder, a clerk, a sheriff, 
a coroner, and a surveyor. The term of office for each of these is two 
years, except the supervisors, who serve for three years, one being 
elected each year. 

We have seen that schools are provided for in school districts under 
the immediate supervision of local officers. These local officers cre- 
ate school districts, vote local taxes, build school houses, hire teachers, 
and assist them in governing schools. But before local school officers 
can hire a teacher the law requires that the teacher shall receive a 
certificate that they are qualified to teach a school. The county su- 
perintendent holds public examinations and issues certificates to those 
who pass the examinations. He usually has an office at the county 
seat. Besides examining teachers and issuing certificates, the super- 
intendent is required to send all legal school-statistics from his county 
to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. These statistics he 
collects in large part from the local school officers. 

The county superintendent has general oversight of school work in 
his county. He assists school officers in selecting teachers; he assists 
teachers in finding out the best methods of teaching; he holds i insti- 
tutes for the instruction of teachers; he gives directions to local school 
officers for planning new buildings, ornamenting grounds, furnishing 
schools with apparatus, etc. When school houses have difficulty in 
securing ground for a school-house the county superintendent may 
appoint appraisers for the ground selected by the school board, then it 
can be taken at the appraised price whether the owner is willing or 
not. When there is a difficulty about locating a school-house, or any 
other action of the school board, an appeal may be made by parties 
who feel aggrieved on account of the action, to the county superin- 
tendent, and it becomes his duty to decide the case. The superintend- 
ent hears appeals from decisions o^ local boards. Appeals may be 
made from the county superintendent to the State Superintendent. 

The county government completes the work of local government 
within the state. The highway supervisors in each road-district col- 
lect the tax and apply it upon the roads. If the supervisors fail to 
secure all the road-tax, it is collected by the county treasurer and giv- 
en to the township clerk to be used on the roads of the township. All 
roads in the county are located by the county supervisors, yet the 
township trustees may be called upon to assess damages to indivdu- 
als caused by locating a road. The county supervisors levy a tax up- 
on the county and apply it to the building of bridges, but small bridges 



(30) 

and culverts are made by the township and the expenses met by a 
township tax. 

The poor of the county are provided for by township trustees and 
county supervisors, but the entire expense is met by a tax levied by 
the supervisors upon the county. Poor persons needing permanent 
support are generally provided for by the supervisors. These may let 
out the keeping of such persons by a contract to the lowest bidder, 
and hire them kept from year to year, or, they may select a farm on 
which to build a poor-house for the county, and estimate the cost of 
the farm and house and submit the question of establishing a poor- 
house to a vote of the people of the county. If the people approve, 
the poor-house is built. The supervisors have entire charge of this. 
They hire a steward to take charge of it, and make rules and regula- 
tions for its management. It is expected that paupers wilLrelieve the 
county of expense as far as possible by labor in the house and upon 
the farm. Insane persons are sent to the state hospitals for treatment, 
and the expense of keeping th'em in the state hospital is paid by the 
county. 

The county government is the chief taxing agent in the state. The 
school board determines the amount of tax to be raised for school pur- 
poses in the district. The trustees determine the amount to be raised 
in the township for roads and other purposes. The town and city 
councils determine the amount to be raised to meet the expenses of 
towns and cities. The supervisors of the county determine the 
amount to be raised in the county for county purposes, and the Gen- 
eral Assembly determines the amount to be raised in each county for 
state purposes. Statements of all these estimates are presented to the 
county supervisors and it becomes their duty to levy a tax to meet all 
these expenses. 

To get a list of tax-payers and taxable property an assessor is elect- 
ed, as we have seen, in each town and township in the county. A 
copy of the assessor's book, after it has been revised by the local board 
of equalization, is sent to the county auditor. The county supervisors 
compare these lists from towns and townships and make such changes 
in the valuation of property as they think justice requires. The as- 
sessment lists from all the eounties in the state are sent to a state 
board of equalization. They equalize the assessments, as best they 
can, between the counties of the state and return to each county its 
corrected list. This list, having been revised by these three boards of 
equalization, is followed by the county government in levying and 
collecting all the taxes for local and state government. 

Besides these various acts which connect the county with the town, 



(31) 

township, and state, the supervisors have other special county busi- 
ness. They must provide a ,place for holding the district and circuit 
courts, and for the keeping of valuable county records. For this pur- 
pose the county usually builds a court-house. If this is not done the 
supervisors must rent rooms for these purposes. The county pays all 
bills for the punishment of crimes committed within the county. 
These crimes are tried in the justice courts in the various townships, 
or in the district court held in the county. 

The supervisors must provide a place for keeping prisoners. They 
usually build a county jail for this purpose. If, in building a jail, 
poor-house, court-house, or bridge, the supervisors need to incur an 
expense of more than five thousand dollars, they may be required to 
previously secure the approval of a majority of the electors of the 
county. If they expend in the purchase of land more than two thou- 
sand dollars, they must have the consent of the voters. In the more 
populous counties the supervisors are allowed to expend ten or even 
fifteen thousand dollars on a bridge without a vote of the people. 

The supervisors are the business managers for the county. They 
have an oversight of all other county officers. They have the care of 
all county buildings and property. No money is paid out by the 
county an account of which must not come before the supervisors and 
be approved or allowed by them. Some claims the law compels them 
to "allow"; others they settle upon their own judgment. The super- 
visors hold five regular meetings each year and such special meetings 
as the exigencies of county business may require. Their regular 
meetings occur on the first Monday after the general election each 
year, and on the first Mondays of January, April, June, and Septem- 
ber. The number of supervisors in any county may be increased 
from three to five or seven, by a majority of the electors. 

An auditor is one who examines, and approves or settles accounts. 
We would naturally suppose that a county auditor was the officer who 
examines and settles the accounts of the county; but we have already 
seen that the supervisors of the county do this work ; the real auditor 
of the county is the board of supervisors. ' The officer who is called 
auditor is the clerk of the board of supervisors and keeps all their 
records. As clerk of the county board, the auditor is the county his- 
torian. In his office may be found the records of the organization of 
the countj' , and of the organization of each township of the county. 
Much of the business transaction between the county and the local 
governments within the county is carried on through the auditor. 
Likewise business between the state government and the county is 
through the auditor. 



(32) 

We have seen that a copy of the assessor's books from every town 
and township in the county, after they have been corrected by three 
boards of equalization, come into the hands of the auditor. Also, we 
have seen that an account of all the taxes voted in school districts, 
townships, towns, and county, is in his hands, also the state tax to be 
collected in the county. It is the business of the auditor to estimate 
the amount of tax to be paid by each tax-payer in the county. He 
must write these results in a book and give a copy to the county 
treasurer to be followed by him in collecting taxes. 

The auditor has charge of a portion of the permanent school fund 
of the state, and he loans this out to individuals as directed by law. 

The treasurer receives from the auditor a list of the tax-payers, and 
the amount of tax to be paid by each one. It is his business to col- 
lect this tax. Taxes may be paid after January of each year. If they 
are not paid before the first of March they are accounted "delinquent." 
If they are not paid before April first a penalty of one per cent, a 
month is collected for the first three months. One-half of the tax 
may be deferred till November without penalty. 

It is the duty of the treasurer to seize and sell the property of de- 
linquent tax-payers. If the tax-payer owns or acquires real estate the 
taxes due the county become a lien on the real estate. On the first 
Monday of October of each year it is the duty of the treasurer to offer 
at public sale at his office all real estate on which there are unpaid tax- 
dues. 

The county supervisors may order an election of a township tax- 
collector in each township in the county, except the township in 
which the county seat is located. If this is done, the auditor furnish- 
es to each collector a tax-list for his township, and he collects the 
taxes and makes his returns to the county treasurer. 

The county treasurer is required to keep a separate account with 
each tax-payer and each fund. He pays out money upon warrants 
signed by the auditor. The auditor in issuing warrants is guided 
mainly by the decisions of the board of supervisors. The supervisors 
are required to* publish their proceedings, so that all the tax-payers in 
the county may be informed as to what is done with their money. By 
comparing the records and work of the auditor and treasurer, it is seen 
that in each office may be found a complete system of money accounts 
for the county. In this way the tax-payers are protected against fraud. 
They are further protected by bonds given by both the auditor and 
the treasurer, so that in case money is lost or stolen by these officers 
the county may be reimbursed by collecting the money from the 
bondsmen of the officers. 



(33) 

It is often difficult for the government to decide who are the right- 
ful owners of land. Our ancestors, before they kept written records, 
used to break off a piece of the turf from the land and a twig from a 
tree growing upon the land, and carry them to the town meeting, and, 
in the presence of the assembled townsmen, the man who wished to 
convey the ownership of the land would deliver the turf and twig in- 
to the hands of the purchaser. This was called "putting into posses- 
sion by turf and twig, as part for the whole." The townsmen could 
testify to this fact, and it was a valid title as long as it could be prov- 
en. Long after written records were used the habit of delivering "by 
turf and twig" continued and the fact that such a delivery had been 
made was put into the written instrument. I have before me a print- 
ed copy of a deed dated March, 16th, 1681, at Sherburne, Nantucket, 
Mass., in which are the words: "I, the said Thomas Macy, have put 
the sd John Macy in toe possession by Turf and twig, a part for the 
whole at the day of the Insealing of these presents." 

It is now the law in all the states of the Union, that titles to real 
estate shall be conveyed only by writing, and a deed conveying a title 
to land is not completed until it is put upon a public record. The of- 
ficer whose duty it is, in this state, to record all deeds and mortgages, 
is the county recorder. It is his duty to write out in full in books 
kept for the purpose all deeds and mortgages placed in his hands. In 
the recorder's office, if the records have been properly kept, can be 
found a history of the title to all the land in the county from the be- 
ginning. The first owner of the land, according to our records, is the 
United States government. The first deed is called a "patent"; and 
is given by the United States to some individual or corporation. That 
individual still owns the land unless there is a public record showing 
that the land has come into the possession of some one else. The 
title to the sixteenth section in each township, and large tracts of other 
land in the state, is traced in the county records to the state of Iowa; 
because these lands have been given by the United States govern- 
ment to the state for educational purposes; and the state either owns 
them or has sold them to individuals. 

The most convenient place to find an official record of the present 
owners of land in the county is in the auditor's office. The auditor is 
required to keep a book of plats showing every piece of land in the 
county and the owner thereof. 

Whenever the recorder receives a deed it is his duty to present the 
same to the auditor, who makes a record of the fact of the conveyance 
in a book kept for that purpose, and changes the name in the book of 
plats to correspond to that of the new owner. We have thus two of- 



(34) 

fices in the county in which a record of titles is kept. 

But before you can be certain as to the exact condition of the title 
to a piece of real estate, you must visit the office of the clerk of the 
courts, and see if there are not judgments or costs which are a lien on 
the land. In the treasurer's office may be found the condition of the 
taxes for which the land may be held. 



CHAPTER T7TII. 

COUNTY CLERK. 



The names of some of the local officers are rather confusing. The 
one who keeps a record of the proceedings of the board of directors 
in a school district is called a "secretary." The township "clerk" is 
recording officer for the board of trustees for the civil township, while 
the town council has a "recorder" for their clerk. In the county the 
board of supervisors have for their clerk an "auditor." The county 
"recorder" is a copyist, while the county "clerk" is an officer of the 
courts held in the county. His official title is "clerk of the district 
and circuit courts." 

The justice of peace, as we have seen, is elected by the township, 
but is regarded as a county officer. The justice is his own clerk. He 
must secure a book and keep in it a record of all official business 
which he transacts. 

If John Doe sues Richard Roe and gets judgment against him in 
a justice's court for seventy-five dollars, and if Richard Roe will not 
pay the sum and has no property which the justice can lawfully order 
the constable to seize and sell to pay the judgment at the time, John 
Doe may have the justice send a copy of his record in the case to the 
clerk of circuit court, and he must enter the record in a book kept for 
that purpose. If this is done, then, any time within ten years, if Rich- 
ard Roe becomes the owner of any property which may be lawfully 
seized, the clerk may order the execution of the judgment upon the 
property of Richard Roe. In this way the more important records of 
the justice's court may be found in the county clerk's office. 

The clerk of the courts has an office at the county seat. All offi- 
cial business transacted by either circuit or district courts held in the 
county is recorded by him. In his office you may find a record of all 
suits entered in either court, all notices given, all witnesses subpoenaed, 



(35) 



all juries empaneled, all decisions rendered, all judgments made, and 
all executions issued. Many of these judgments affect the title to real 
estate. In all except criminal cases the party losing the suit is re- 
quired to pay the costs. If he refuses to do this his land may be 
seized for this purpose. Unsatisfied judgments are a lien upon any 
real estate which the party may own or acquire. One buying land of 
a person against whom there are records of obligation in the courts, 
may be compelled to satisfy these claims. 

It is the business of the circuit court to appoint executors, adminis- 
trators and guardians. But, if there is need of the officers during the 
time the court is not holding session in the county, the clerk appoints 
these officers and they hold till the next term of court, and permanent- 
ly if not changed by the judge. 

The clerk issues marriage licenses and makes a record of the same, 
and must also make a record of the accomplishment of the marriage. 
He keeps a record of births and deaths in the county. 



CHAPTER IX. 

LAND SURVEYS. 



Our lands were first surveyed by the United States government. 
The system of surveys adopted is most simple and convenient. First, 
the land is all marked off into squares by meridians and parallels six 
miles apart. These squares are called townships, and, as we have 
seen, they serve the double purpose of locating lands and furnishing 
boundaries for local governments. As civil governments the town- 
ships receive proper names, as Madison or Jefferson township, but 
for purposes of locating land they are designated by numbers. 

The surveyors begin by establishing a true meridian, run with 
great care, and marks are made every half mile along its entire length. 
Across this true meridian a true parallel is run and marked in like 
manner. From these two lines the townships are numbered. The 
lands in Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and a large part of 
Dakota are all included in one survey. The Fifth Principal Meridian 
starts at the mouth of the Arkansas river and runs north to the north- 



(36) 



ern line of Minnesota. A Base Line crossing this meridian runs 
near Little Rock, Arkansas. From these two lines the lands in these 
states are located. 

Having established the Principal Meridian and the Base Line, the 
surveyors begin the work of locating townships at the point where 
the lines cross. They follow out on the Base Line six miles west. 
From this point, they measure due north six miles and establish the 
corner of the first township. This township is Range i West of 
Principal Meridian, and No. i North. They measure on six miles 
farther and establish the second tOAvnship corner, and so on as far as 
the survey is extended. The tiers of townships running north and 
south are called Ranges. Range i is next to the Meridian. Range 
2 is six miles from the Meridian ; Range 1 1 is sixty miles. The town- 
ships are numbered from the Base Line, north or south. Range 4, 
West, Township 9, North, means that the township is eighteen miles 
west from the Principal Meridian, and is forty-eight miles north of 
the Base Line. A township on the south line of Iowa is No. 67, 
North, from the Base Line. This means that the southern line of 
our state is about three hundred and ninety-six miles north of Little 
Rock, Arkansas. A township on the north line of Iowa is No. 
100. The north line of Iowa is, therefore, six hundred miles 
north of the Base Line, or of Little Rock. The width of our 
state, according to this computation, is two hundred and four 
miles. A township in the extreme eastern part of our state is in 
Range 6, East; that is, it is thirty-six miles east of the Principal Mer- 
idian, which runs not far from Muscatine. A township in the ex- 
treme west is in Range 48, West, or two hundred and eighty-eight 
miles west from the Meridian. The length of our state, therefore, is 
three hundred and twenty-four miles 

In running north from the Base Line the surveyors simply follow 
the true meridian as determined by their instruments. True meridi- 
ans converge toward the poles of the earth's axis. In latitude forty- 
two degrees two lines starting six miles apart and running due north 
six miles will be three rods nearer together than they were at the 
starting point. At* the distance of thirty miles they are fifteen rods 
nearer together. The townships are square only in theory. As a 
matter of fact they are all narrower on the north side than they are 
on the south, and none of them are full six miles on the south except 
those which are started on a base line. But, to prevent this narrow- 
ing process from spoiling the system, the surveyors make what they 
call "correction lines." 

This is done by measuring out from the Principal Meridian and 



(87) 



starting a new base line. The townships on the north of this line are 
all full six miles in width ; on the south of it they are less than six 
miles. This makes a jog in the lines running north. The south line 
of Iowa is a correction line. From this line the surveys were made 
eleven townships north, and another correction line was established. 
This line runs near Iowa City and Des Moines. Ten townships far- 
ther a third correction line is established, running from near Dubuque 
to Sioux City. From this line the townships grow narrower till they 
come to the north line of the state. 

This first United States survey divides the land into townships. 
But a township contains 23,040 acres, more land than an ordinary 
purchaser can buy. To divide the township into lots convenient for 
settlers other surveyors are employed. These mark off the township 
iuto thirty-six sections, each one mile square. A mark is made at the 
corner of each section, and one half way between these on the section 
line. In surveying a township into sections the surveyors begin at 
the southeast corner of the township and mark off the sections to the 
north. If their survey does not agree with the first surveys, they 
leave the surplus or deficiency on the north side of the township. If 
the surveys are accurate the townships are all just six miles north 
and south, but it is found to be often impracticable to run two inde- 
pendent lines six miles and have them correspond. So if you own a 
forty acre lot on the north side of a township it is probably defective. 
When the township surveyors come to the west side it is always 
found to be defective, since the township, as we have seen, is always 
narrow at least on one side. Hence the lots along the west side are 

always fractional. The thirty-six 
sections in a township are numbered 
and located as indicated in Fig. 1. 
The section in the extreme north- 
east corner of the township is num- 
ber one. West of this is number two, 
and south of it is number twelve. By 
following this uniform method of 
numbering the sections it is possible 
to give the exact position of any sec- 
tion by simply knowing its number. 
The United States survey ends with 
the location of marks at the corner of 
each section and a half-mile mark between the section corners, as in- 
dicated in Fig. 2. The government disposes of the land in forty-acre 
lots or multiples thereof. In a section there are sixteen forty-acre 







Fig 


. /. 






6 


5 


4 


3 


2 


1 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


18 


17 


16 


i5 


H 


13 


J 9 


20 


21 


22 


23 


24 


30 


29 


28 


27 


26 


25 


3i 


32 


33 


34 


35 


36 



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lots and they may each be accurately located by a brief 
and convenient description. First, the section is divided 
into quarters and described as indicated in Fig. 3. Each 
quarter-section contains, of course, four forty-acre lots; 
these are indicated in precisely the same way. We will 
now suppose that you have been to the land office and purchased a 
forty-acre lot, with the following description: S.E.^f of S.E.# of Sec. 
9, Township 81 North, and Range 18 West of the Fifth Principal 
Meridian. Township 81N. and Range 18W. mean that the land is 



Fig. 2. 
X — X — X 



-x — X 



Fig- 3- 



N. W. 


N. E. 


S. E. 


s. w. 


S. E. 


! S. E. 

1 



about four hundred and eighty-six miles 
north of Little Rock, Arkansas, and ©ne 
hundred and eight miles west of Mus- 
catine, Iowa. With a township map 
you can find the exact location, in Cen- 
tral Iowa. Having found the township, 
you next find section nine. This, it will 
be seen by reference to Fig. 1, is one 
mile from the north line and three miles 
from the east line of the township. The 
forty-acre lot described is in the extreme 
southeast corner of the section. If the 
Government corner can be found, the land is easily located. If, how- 
ever, the description ran S.E.j^ of N.W.^ of the same section and~ 
township, it would be more difficult to locate it. The S.E. corner of 
this lot is the center of the section and this point is not fixed by the 
U. S. survey. If all the half-mile marks are visible, the center may 
be located with some degree of accuracy by measuring across each 
way; but to do this with entire satisfaction requires a surveyor and 
surveyor's instruments. Besides, many of the original marks made 
by Government become lost. 

The county surveyor is an officer chosen in each county to assist 
interested parties in locating their land. In the first place, men often 
went upon the land without any attempt at accurate surveys. They' 
"stepped" it off, or measured up hill and down with a pole. When 
land was cheap, or where no one claimed the adjoining land, this 
method answered every purpose. But as land became valuable and 
all of it w T as occupied it became necessary, or at least desirable, to 
have the lines established in their proper place. The county survey- 
or is employed by interested parties and paid by them for his work. 
He establishes corners for each piece of land, makes out a plat show- 
ing his measurements and gives a copy to the parties employing him. 
If the parties desire they may have the survey recorded in a book 



(39) 

kept by the county surveyor. The surveyor may be employed in 
platting a town, or in locating town lots. In all the work of the coun- 
ty surveyor the starting point is from the United States survey ; he is 
not allowed to change these. If some of the marks of United States 
surveys are lost the surveyor may relocate them. 

The other county officers are a sheriff and coroner, whose duties are 
presented in another chapter. 



CH-A-IFTIEDB RE- 
STATE GOVERNMENT AND STATE INSTITUTIONS. 



The greater part of the work of government within the state is per- 
formed by school districts, towns, townships, and counties. A few 
things are done by the state. 

We have seen that school districts vote taxes for school purposes, 
build school houses, hire teachers, and provide for the immediate 
wants of public schools. A county officer examines teachers, and has 
supervision over the schools of the county. The state provides an 
officer whose duty it is to have general supervision over the work of 
education throughout the state. 

There is a permanent school fund of the state in the hands of state 
and county auditors. This money is loaned out and the interest is 
distributed to school districts in proportion to the number of persons 
between the ages of five and twenty-one, and is used in the payment 
of teachers. 

The laws of the state provide for the establishment of high schools 
supported by counties, but only one county in the state maintains 
such a school. High schools are established and maintained by 
school districts where there are towns and cities. 

Besides the schools provided for in school districts and the one 
county high school in the state, the state at large maintains various 
educational institutions. 

The State University, located at Iowa City, begins the work of ed- 
ucation where the high schools of the state end. It gives a liberal 
literary and scientific education. There are also connected with the 
University departments of Law and Medicine, where lawyers and 
physicians receive their professional training. The University is sup- 
ported in part by a state tax and in part by the proceeds of land given 
to the state by the United States government. 



(40) 

The Iowa State Agricultural College is located at Ames. The 
leading object of this institution, as set forth in the act of Congress 
providing for its establishment, is to teach such branches of learning 
as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in order to pro- 
mote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the 
several pursuits and professions of life. 

The Agricultural College is supported mainly by the proceeds of 
lands granted to the state by the United States government. The 
state is required by the terms of the grant to furnish land and build- 
ings for the use of the college. The control of the college is in the 
hands of trustees appointed by the legislature. 

The state has established a Normal School at Cedar Falls for the 
special training and education of teachers. This school is supported 
entirely by the state. 

Besides these three educational institutions, which all classes may 
attend, the state maintains three other institutions for the education 
of unfortunate classes. These are, a college at Vinton, where all blind 
persons within the state may receive an education; one at Council 
Bluffs, for the education of deaf mutes, and a school at Glenwood for 
the education of feeble-minded children and youth. 

The state maintains two reform schools ; one for girls at Mitchell- 
ville, and one for boys at Eldora. The object of these schools is to 
govern, train, and educate unruly and criminal boys and girls, and 
prevent them from becoming fixed in a criminal life. 

Soon after the Rebellion there were established in the state several 
homes for soldiers' orphans. These have all been discontinued ex- 
cept the one at Davenport. This institution, as now maintained, pro- 
vides for a special class of the poor of the state. The supervisors of 
the county, as we have seen, provide for the poor. They decide what 
orphan children may be sent to the Orphans' Home. And while the 
Orphans' Home is controlled by state officials, the expense of keeping 
the children is paid by the county from which they are sent. 

The state has established two institutions for the care and treat- 
ment of the insane. One is located at Mt. Pleasant and the other at 
Independence. These institutions are controlled by the state, but 
the expenses of keeping the inmates are paid by the counties from 
which the}' come. If the supervisors of the county do not deem it a 
hardship to insane persons or their relatives, they may require them 
to repay to the county all expenses incurred. 

The circuit judge appoints for each county one physician and one 
lawyer, w r ho, with the clerk of the court, constitute a board of com- 
missioners for the insane of the county. Persons cannot be deprived 



(41) 

of their liberty under the plea of insanity unless by the authority of 
the board of commissioners. Many of the insane of the state are 
cared for in county poor-houses. 

The state maintains two prisons, or penitentiaries. One is located 
at Ft. Madison and the other at Anamosa. The object of these insti- 
tutions is to execute sentences to confinement and hard labor pro- 
nounced by district courts of the state against persons convicted of 
serious crime. A petty crime may be punished by fine and imprison- 
ment in county jail. County prisoners may be required to labor for 
the county, and the net earnings of said labor go into the county 
treasury. But in such cases there are usually no net earnings. It 
costs the county more to furnish tools and proper guards than the 
labor is worth. But in state's prisons, where large numbers are con- 
fined for a long time, the case is different. The proceeds of labor in 
state's prisons may be made to pay all expenses for maintaining the 
institutions, and may may even be a source of revenue to the state. 

AIT these state institutions are controlled by boards of trustees, or 
regents, chosen by the General Assembly. . The buildings for their 
accommodation are built by the state, and the the expenses of mainte- 
nance are met chiefly by a tax levied upon the entire state by the 
General Assembly. 



OFFICERS OF THE STATE. 



In previous chapters frequent allusion has been made to various 
state officers. 

The General Assembly, or State Legislature, as we have seen, ap- 
points the officers who have charge of all the state institutions. The 
General Assembly is composed of two houses, a Senate of fifty mem- 
bers, and a House of Representatives of one Hundred members. Sen- 
ators and representatives are chosen by the people at the general 
election in October. Representatives are chosen for two years; and, 
as the legislature meets only on alternate years, representatives attend 
but one session. Senators are chosen for four years. They attend 
two sessions of the General Assembly, and half of them are chosen 
for each session 

The chief business of the General Assembly is to make laws for the 
government of the state. All that has been said about school districts, 



(42) 

towns, townships, counties, courts, and state institutions may be taken 
as a partial description of the laws made by the General Assembly. 
Every official act rightly performed by officers in school districts, 
towns, townships, and counties is either required or permitted by laws 
passed by the state legislature. The legislature, by direct statute, 
creates counties and provides for their organization. The legislature 
directs by law the county supervisors to organize counties into town- 
ships. Township trustees are required by law to divide the township 
into road districts. The law requires the trustees, also, to organize 
the township into a school district. Other statutes provide for the 
organization of towns and cities, so that all civil government within 
the state is in accordance with, or under the authority of laws passed 
by the General Assembly. 

A law is first proposed in one house of the General Assembly, and 
must be committed to writing. In this form it is called a bill. A bill 
must be read three times before the house, and may be discussed and 
amended. After the third reading a final vote is taken, and, if a ma- 
jority of all the members elected to the house vote for the bill, it is 
passed. It then goes to the other house and is subjected to like pro- 
cess. If the bill passes the other house without amendment, or 
change, it is sent to the governor. If it is amended, it is sent back to 
the house in which it originated for approval. The governor receives 
the bill after it has passed both houses by the required vote. If the 
governor approve the bill, he signs it and it becomes a law. If he 
does not approve, he returns the bill to the house in which it originat- 
ed, with a statement of his objections. This is called "vetoing" the 
bill. If the bill, notwithstanding the governor's objection, receives a 
vote of two-thirds of all the members of each house, it becomes a law 
without the governor's signature. Or, if the governor retain the bill 
for a longer period than three days before returning it to the house in 
which it originated, it becomes a law without his signature. 

GOVERNOR. 

The Governor, as already stated, has important duties in connection 
with the legislature in making laws for the state. It is his duty, in 
addition to that of signing or vetoing bills, to collect information 
about the needs of the state and to recommend to the General Assem- 
bly such legislation as seems to him wise. In addition to his duties 
in securing wise laws, the governor has some duties in the execution 
of the laws of the state. If a crime is committed within the state and 
the criminal escapes, the governor, if he thinks best, may offer a re- 
ward for his arrest. When a riot occurs and the sheriffs and other 



(43) 



local peace officers are not able to preserve order in their localities, 
they may call upon the governor for aid. It then becomes his duty 
to call out enough of the state militia to preserve order. If the disor- 
der becomes general and the governor with the state militia is unable 
to stop it, he may call upon the President of the United States for 
aid. 

If a criminal, or one suspected of crime, escapes from the state, the 
governor gives to the sheriff the necessary papers to enable him to 
secure the return of the criminal to the state. After a person has 
been convicted of crime and sentenced in a criminal court of the 
state, the governor may pardon the convict, or remit his fine. But a 
person convicted of murder in the first degree cannot be pardoned by 
the governor until he has asked the advice of the legislature 

It is the duty of the governor to visit the state institutions and ex- 
amine their accounts. The penitentiary he is required to visit quar- 
terly. When vacancies occur in the boards of management for state 
institutions, in the absence of the legislature, the governor appoints 
persons to fill them. He also commissions notaries public, and a few 
other officers. It is sometimes the duty of the governor to order a 
special election, and on extraordinary occasions he may summon the 
General Assembly to an extra session. 

SECRETARY OF STATE. 

In the office of the Secretary of State, kept at the capital, should be 
found a record of all the acts and resolutions passed by the Territorial 
Legislature and the General Assembly of the state. He also keeps 
in his office various other records. All commissions issued by the 
governor are signed by the secretary of state, and he keeps a record of 
the same. He also keeps a record of the organization of towns and 
cities in the state and the population of each. He keeps a record of 
all the lands owned by the state. He distributes the laws of the state 
and other public documents. 

AUDITOR. 

The Auditor of State is its business manager. We have seen in 
the case of counties that the business managers are the county super- 
visors, and the auditor of the county is the clerk of the board of super- 
visors. The state auditor does for the state what the board of super- 
visors and the auditor do for the county. He examines and settles 
all accounts against the state. He draws warrants upon the treasurer 
for money directed by law to be paid out of the treasury. The aud- 
itor apportions the interest of the school fund to the several counties 



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of the state as directed by law. The permanent school fund of the 
state is kept on interest under the direction and management of state 
and countp auditors. If a county auditor does not succeed in loaning 
his portion, it is the duty of the state auditor to remove the money to 
some other part of the state. To protect citizens from losses through 
the mismanagement of insurance companies and savings banks with- 
in the state, the law makes it the duty of the auditor to collect and 
publish information as to their business management and financial 
condition. 

TREASURER. 

The Treasurer has charge of the money of the state. The greater 
part of the money which comes into the state treasury is received 
from county treasurers. Whenever the state treasurer receives mon- 
ey from any source he draws a duplicate receipt; one copy is present- 
ed to the state auditor. In this way the auditor is made aware of all 
the money received by the state. The treasurer pays out money only 
as he is directed by the written order of the auditor. In this way a 
full account is kept of the funds of the state in two offices. 

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. 

The Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, and Treasurer, or any 
three of them, constitute an Executive Council. This body provides 
for and superintends the taking of the census once in ten years. It 
provides for the incidental expenses of state officers. We have seen 
that general elections are held by township trustees. These canvass 
the votes for the township and declare the result for township officers. 
The votes for county and state officers are sent to the county auditor. 
The board of supervisors meet, canvass the votes from all the pre- 
cincts of the county, declare the result for county officers and send 
the votes for state and federal officers to the auditor of state, who is 
clerk of the executive council. The executive council meet and can- 
vass the votes from all the counties and declare the final result. In 
like manner, the revising of assessors' books and the equalization of 
assessments is first taken in hand by trustees and towm council who 
equalize between individual tax-payers, then by the board of supervis- 
ors, who equalize between townships, and finally by the executive 
council of the state who equalize between counties. There are vari- 
ous other matters of business attended to by the executive council. 

Besides the Governor, Secretary, Auditor and Treasurer of State, 
who are all elected by the people and serve for two years, the General 
Assembly choose at each session a state printer and a state binder, 
who attend to the printing and binding of public documents. 



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THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

is at the head of public school work in the state. He receives reports 
from county superintendents of the condition of public schools in the 
counties. Thus, and in other ways, he collects information as to the 
condition and needs of the schools. He recommends to the General 
Assembly such changes in the school laws as he thinks the schools 
of the state demand. He hears appeals from the decisions of county 
superintendents. He publishes instructions upon various rulings and 
interpretations of the school laws. He appoints teachers' institutes 
and sends out lists of questions to be used by county superintendents 
in examining teachers. These and various other duties are performed 
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



CI3:^^n?EIS WIE- 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 



Some governments do nothing for the education of the people; some 
do nothing for the poor; public highways receive little or no attention 
from some governments; but all governments furnish some sort of 
protection. A government may neglect every other business; it can- 
not neglect the administration of justice. To do this is to introduce 
anarchy, or no government. 

As the protection of life and property is the one business which the 
government cannot for a moment neglect, it has come to pass that the 
offices and the agencies by which this business is done are the oldest 
and most familiar. Justice of Peace, Constable, Sheriff, Coroner, Ju- 
ries, are names of offices extending far back into the past and connect- 
ing the familiar life of to-day with the life of our remote Saxon ances- 
tors. They had the thief; we have the thief. The officer who caught 
the thief for them catches him for us. It is this department of gov- 
ernment which links us most closely with the remote past. 

JUSTICE OF PEACE. 

This is an office which has existed for many centuries among the 
English people. In the earliest times, all Englishmen above the age 
of fifteen were required to take an oath "not to be thieves or robbers, 
or receivers of such, and to fullfil their duty of pursuing the thief 



(46) 

when the hue and cry is raised." It was the duty of every one who 
became aware of a crime to cry out with a loud voice and give chase 
to the criminal. Every one who heard the cry was bound to join in 
the chase and to lift up his voice, also, that others might hear. In 
this way the criminal was pursued till he was caught, or had escaped. 
This is what is meant by the "hue and cry" of our ancestors. 

In the earliest times it seems that the duty of preserving the peace 
rested equally upon all. But in the year 1195, in the time of Richard 
Coeur de Lion, a royal decree was issued requiring the people to take 
the ancient oath to keep and preserve the peace, and at the same time 
certain knights were appointed for the purpose of enforcing the de- 
cree. These were called "conservators of the peace." 

These officers were sometimes appointed by the king and at other 
times they were elected by the people of the locality. At first they 
had no judicial functions; they simply assisted in executing the laws. 
In after times the conservators of the peace received special orders 
from the king "to hear and determine felonies," and in 1361, during 
the reign of Edward III, they were regularly empowered to hear 
cases. From that time they have been called Justices of the Peace, 
and their duties as judges have been the more important ones. At 
first the justices of peace attended to only criminal cases, but after- 
wards their duties were extended by special statutes to other cases. 

As each colony of Englishmen was founded in America, the office 
of justice of the peace, being the most familiar judicial office to all 
Englishmen of the time, naturally took its place among the local in- 
stitutions of the colonies. This office is found in all the states of the 
Union, being in some of them a town or township office, in others a 
county office. In some of the states the justices are appointed by the 
governor, in others they are chosed by the people of the locality. 

In Iowa the justice of peace is elected by the people in the township 
where he resides. Yet for certain purposes the justice is regarded as 
a county officer. He must remain, however, in the township where 
he is elected. If he removes his residence from that township he 
ceases to be a justice of peace. 

In Iowa many of the duties performed by the ancient conservators 
of peace are performed by the sheriff of the county ^and his deputies. 
These are empowered by the law to keep the peace, to prevent crime, 
to arrest any person liable thereto, and to execute legal processes. In 
this work they may call others to their aid, and, when necessary, the 
sheriff may summon the power of the county. The justice may ar- 
rest a person violating the law in his presence and bind him over to 
keep the peace, or commit him to prison; he may hear the complaints 



(47) 



of others against a person suspected of an intention to commit a crime 
and require him to give a bond to keep the peace. 

The justice of peace in Iowa is empowered to try all public offenses in 
which the punishment prescribed by law does not exceed a fine of one 
hundred dollars, or imprisonment in county jail for 30 days. These 
cases may be tried before the justice without a jury, unless the person 
charged with crime demands a jury. If a jury is demanded, six men 
are chosen by order of the justice, who constitute a jury. They de- 
cide whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of the crime charged, 
and the justice affixes the penalty. 

If a person is charged with some more serious crime, which the law 
defines as felony and punishes, or may punish, with imprisonment in 
the penitentiary, the justice may be required to conduct a preliminary 
examination. In such a case witnesses are summoned and an inves- 
tigation is made into the evidences of crime, and if it seems to the jus- 
tice that the evidence against the person is such as to make it proba- 
ble that he is guilty of the crime charged, it is his duty to hold the 
prisoner in the county jail until the meeting of the grand jury. In 
the case of most crimes the prisoner has a right to bail, and it is the 
duty of the justice to fix the amount of the bail. 

In either sort of case, whether it is an actual trial before the justice 
of a petty crime, or whether it is a preliminary examination on a 
charge of felony, the person charged with crime has a right to a 
chci7ige of venue. This is secured by the defendant's alleging under 
oath that he believes that he cannot secure justice before the present 
justice of peace. The case then goes with a copy of all the records 
made by the justice to the next nearest justice in the county, and 
there it must be conducted ; no farther change can be granted. If a 
person is dissatisfied with the judgment rendered in a justice's court, 
he may appeal to the district court and have the case tried anew. 
There is no appeal from the decision of the justice in the case of a 
preliminary examination. Yet if the person is sent to jail he may 
petition any judge of a court of higher jurisdiction in the state who 
happens to be nearest and most convenient for a writ of habeas corpus 
on the ground that he is unlawfully imprisoned. If, from the show- 
ing of facts contained in the petition, the judge is satisfied that the 
prisoner is not entitled to any relief, he may refuse to grant the peti- 
tion ; otherwise it is his duty to issue an order to the authority having 
charge of the prisoner to bring his body before the court at a fixed 
time, and sho.w cause why he is held. If it shall appear in this exam- 
ination that the prisoner has been unlawfully held, it is the dutv of 
the judge to release him ; otherwise he is held as before. 



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In case a boy or girl, nnder the age of sixteen and over the age of 
seven, is convicted of a crime before the justice, or is shown to be a 
disorderly person, the justice may order them to be taken before a 
district or circuit judge, who has the power to send them to the reform 
school of the state. 

The justice of peace may try civil cases where the amount involved 
does not exceed a hundred dollars ; or, if the parties agree, a case may 
be tried before a justice where three hundred dollars are involved. 
In this way a large proportion of the disputes between citizens is 
settled before a justice court. Notes are collected, accounts are prov- 
ed and settled, damages are collected, property is seized for the benefit 
of creditors. In the trial of a civil case before a justice a jury may be 
demanded by either party to the suit, and, as in a criminal action, it 
consists of six persons. In a civil case either party may appeal to the 
circuit court, and in that court the case may be tried anew. 

In a criminal suit witnesses, juries, and all the costs of the suit are 
paid by the county ; but in a civil case the costs are charged to the one 
who loses his case. 

The justice, besides his duties as judge, may do various other things. 
He may solemnize a marriage. He may hold an inquest over dead 
bodies in place of a coroner. He may acknowledge deeds and mort- 
gages, tho' this is usually done by a notary public. It is the duty of 
the justice to enter in a book kept for the purpose a description of es- 
trays taken up, and to send a copy of the description to the county 
auditor. By the direction of the justice estrays and lost goods are ap- 
praised. 

constabue. 

During the middle ages each great lord had a companion and com- 
mander of his horsemen. He was called cones stabulus, or count of 
the stable. He was the chief military officer of the castle. For a 
time the highest military officer of the King was, in France and Eng- 
land, called the Lord High Constable. These officers, in England, 
exercised judicial as well as military and administrative functions. In 
each castle was a constable who exercised both judicial and military 
functions. Throughout the towns and shires of England the minor 
peace officers were called constables. Their duties in early times 
were scarce distinguishable from those of conservators of the peace 
w T ho became justices of peace. But, as the justices came to be judicial 
officers, the constables continued as their ministerial officers, to arrest 
and hold criminals, to summon witnesses, to empannel juries and to 
do whatever the court legally ordered. The office of constable came 



(49) 



to America with the English colonists. Miles Standish was consta- 
ble at Plymouth. Both in England and America the office of High 
Constable has nearly disappeared and only the local constable re- 
mains. 

In this state constables, along with marshals, police officers, sheriffs 
and deputy sheriffs, are peace officers of the state. It is their duty 
to command the peace, to quell riots, to prevent crimes. A private 
citizen may, without a warrant, arrest and take before a magistrate 
any person committing a crime in his presence; or, if he knows that 
a felony, or a crime punishable with confinement in state's prison has 
been committed, a private person, may arrest, without warrant, a per- 
son who he has reason to believe, committed the crime. It is made 
the special duty of constables and other peace officers to make such 
arrests. Usually the constable is ordered, before an arrest is made, to 
take the person accused of crime and bring him before the magistrate. 
This order is called a warrant. 

The constable is the ministerial officer of the justice' court. It is 
his duty to subpoena witnesses, select jurymen, make arrests, have 
charge of prisoners, and do whatever the court orders him to do. As 
a ministerial officer the constable always acts under orders from the 
court. As a peace officer he may act upon his own motion. The 
justice may require any peace officer to act as his ministerial officer, 
or he may appoint any citizen to serve as constable in case of emer- 
gency. 



SHERIFF AND CORONER. 



The office of sheriff", like that of justice of peace and constable, is 
traced back to our English and Saxon ancestors. The head man of 
the township was called the tun-gerefa, or town reeve. The town 
reeve presided at the town meetings ; he with four chief men repre- 
sented the township in the hundred and county courts. The duties of 
the reeve were judicial as well as administrative. He was the head 
man in all local government. As the power of the king and great 
lords increased, the reeve lost in part his local importance; he was 



(50) 



chosen by the king or great lord and was regarded as the king's reeve 
or the lord's reeve. 

As England came to be divided into shires, or counties, the chief 
man to carry out the will of earl or of king in the shire, came to be 
called the shire-reeve, or sheriff. This officer in early times often ex- 
ercised important judicial functions. In Scotland the sheriff is still a 
judicial officer, but in England and America the sheriff is the chief 
executive and ministerial officer of all the higher courts held in the 
county. The sheriff in Iowa holds about the same relation to the dis- 
trict and circuit courts held in the county that the constable does to 
the justice's court, or the town or city marshal does to the mayor's or 
police courts. In the counties of the state where the supreme court 
of the state holds its sitting, the sheriff of the county serves that court 
in addition to his county business. Courts of the United States are 
served by United States marshals. 

The sheriff has entire charge of the county jail and is himself the 
jailor or secures some one to serve as such. By himself or deputy he 
makes all arrests and serves all notices, writs, executions and warrants 
for the district and circuit courts. If a justice sends a man to coun- 
ty jail, the constable delivers him to the sheriff or his deputy. The 
sheriff is the chief conservator of the peace in the county, and as such 
he may order out all able-bodied men to assist in preserving order, or 
in arresting criminals The sheriff may pursue a person subject to 
arrest, to any part of the state and return him to the county. - If a 
fugitive from justice escape from the state, he may be returned by 
means of a requisition from the governor. 

CORONER. 

There is a clause in Magna Charta, given by King John to the Eng- 
lish people in the year 1216, which reads: "No sheriff, constable, 
coroner or bailiff of the King shall hold pleas of the crown." These 
officers had been accustomed to act as judges in pleas, or suits for vio- 
lating the king's peace. The intention of this clause of Magna Chart a 
was that these officers should, instead of trying cases themselves, 
bring them before justices or judges to be tried. 

The office of coroner had been created in the reign of Richard I., 
who preceded King John. Some authorities trace the office back still 
farther to Anglo-Saxon times. The object of the officer as chosen by 
order of Richard, was to limit the power of the sheriff. He had spe- 
cial charge of the king's business and hence we have the name coroner 
from corona, crown. In England, as the power of the crown has de- 
clined, the office of coroner has come to be limited to the duty of hold- 



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ing inquests over dead bodies of citizens. In America the coroner 
has about the same duties as in England. Where a person in this 
state is found dead and there is reason to believe that a crime has been 
committed, it is the duty of the coroner to summon a jury of three 
persons, subpoena witnesses, make as thorough an investigation as 
possible, and if the jury find that a crime has been committed, and 
designate the perpetrator, it is the duty of the coroner to order his ar- 
rest. A justice of peace in this state may act in the place of the cor- 
oner. 

The office of coroner is still associated with that of sheriff, and the 
coroner takes the place of the sheriff, in case of his death or disability. 



OHAPTEE 2£IT7\ 

DISTRTCT AND CIRCUIT COURTS. 



We read in the Bible that Samuel judged Israel, and went from 
year to year in a circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged 
Israel in all those places. 

In civilized nations it is customary for men who have a reputation 
for legal learning to go from place to place and hold courts for the 
punishment of crimes, or for the settlement of disputes between citi- 
zens. I have already quoted a passage from Magna Charta, in which 
sheriffs, constables, coroners and bailiffs, are forbidden to hold pleas 
of the crown ; that is, these local officers were no longer permitted to 
try serious criminal cases, but were to bring criminals for trial before 
the king's justices. 

It is farther provided in Magna Charta that the king's chief justice 
shall send two justices into each county four times each year, who, 
with four knights, to be chosen by the county court, should hold a 
court and settle all cases concerning lands and estates. And, if all 
cases were not decided on the daj' appointed, a sufficient number of 
knights should continue the court till they were. We have here the 
idea that courts of justice shall be brought conveniently near to the 
people; and that men skilled in the law shall decide important cases. 

For the trial of all serious crime, for the trial of all cases involving 
the validity of a title to real estate, and for all the more important 
suits between citizens, and for the probate of wills and questions of 
guardianship, two courts are provided by law in this state, each hold- 



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ing at least two sittings a year in each county. Thus the citizens of 
Iowa enjoy the privileges granted in Magna Charta, of having four 
sittings of a superior court of record in each county every year. 

The entire state is divided into districts and each district elects both 
a district and a circuit judge. In a few of the more populous districts 
the number of circuit judges is increased. The judges are elected for 
the term of four years. They are regarded as state officers and are 
paid out of state funds. But we have seen that the clerk of these 
courts is a county officer, and the records of the proceedings of these 
courts, are county records. 

These two courts are of equal rank, and there is no appeal from one 
to the other. All criminal cases appealed from the justice's court, go 
to the district court ; other cases from the lower courts go to the circuit 
court. The district court has exclusive jurisdiction in the trial of all 
crimes. The circuit court has exclusive jurisdiction of all probate 
business, the settlement ©f estates, guardianship of minors and insane 
persons. In other matters the two courts have concurrent jurisdic- 
tion. Cases may be appealed from either the district or circuit court 
to the supreme court of the state. 

DISTRICT ATTORNEY. 

As previously stated, cities of the first and second classes choose an 
officer whose duty it is to appear on behalf of the city government in 
all cases at law. The chief duty of the city solicitor is to prosecute 
persons for violating city ordinances. To prosecute persons charged 
with crime in a justice's court, the government provides no officer. 
This is left to citizens interested in enforcing the law. But for the 
purpose of prosecuting criminals in the district court, a district attor- 
ney is elected at the same time and in the same way as the district 
judge. He follows the district court into all the counties of the dis- 
trict. He assists the grand jury in gaining information and draws in- 
dictments, and he appears as the prosecuting attorney against persons 
tried for crime in the district court. 

According to an amendment to the constitution, passed in 1884, the 
business belonging to the office of district attorney may be otherwise 
provided for by the legislature. 



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THE SUPREME COURT. 



The Supreme Court of the state consists of five judges. They are 
e iected by popular vote and hold their office for six years. The court 
\$ held in four cities of the state, an«^ chere are two terms annually in 
e ach. On the first Monday in June and December, the court con- 
venes in Des Moines; at Davenport on the first Monday in April and 
(ictober; at Dubuque on the third Monday in April and October, and 
a t Council Bluffs on the third Monday in March and September- 
'fhe chief business of the supreme court is to decide cases appealed 
fj*om the district and circuit courts of the state. In the supreme court 
the cases are not tried over again, except it be an equity case, but are 
sfmply reviewed for the purpose of correcting errors in the interpreta- 
tion and application of the law. If the supreme court sustains the 
decision of the lower court, the case is finally decided. But if the su- 
preme court sets aside the decision on account of some error, the case 
rfiay be tried over again in the lower court. 

The lower courts of the state follow as nearly as they can the de- 
cisions of the supreme court. The judges of the supreme court give 
tpeir decisions in writing. If they agree they unite in one decision, 
jf one or more of the judges do not agree with the majority, they may 
file a dissenting opinion. A majority of the court may decide a case. 
jf the court is evenly divided the decision of the lower court is sus- 
tained. 

The records of district and circuit courts are kept in counties, by a 
c lerk elected for that purpose. The records of the supreme court 
gire kept at the seat of government by a clerk of the supreme court 
e lected by the people of the state. His term of office is four years. 

All the decisions of the supreme court are binding upon the lower 
c ourts and have, hence, the nature of laws. It is important that they 
£>e carefully published. The state elects, at the same time with the 
clerk, a supreme court reporter, whose duty it is to superintend the 
publication of the decisions. 

ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

In each judicial district, as we have seen, there is a district attorney, 
yvhose duty it is to follow the district court, assist the grand jury in 
Its work and appear on behalf of the state in the prosecution of per- 



(54) 

sons indicted for crime. It is also his duty to give advice to county 
officers on points of law touching their official work. If a criminal 
carries an appeal from the district court to the supreme court, the case 
passes out of the hands of the district attorney, and the attorney gen- 
eral of the state takes entire charge of the prosecution. The attorney 
general also appears on behalf of the state whenever the state is a 
party to to a suit. It is his duty to give legal advice to state officers 
on matters of official duty. 



JURIES. 



In May, 1833, soon after the first settlers of Iowa crossed the Miss- 
issippi River, and began to work the lead mines at Dubuque, Patrick 
O'Conner murdered, in cold blood, George O'Kief. What should be 
done? There was no authorized government in Iowa. The land had 
just been bought of the Indians, and no provision had been made for 
its settlement. Some proposed that they should seize O'Conner and 
hang him at once, but the lawfully disposed prevented this. They 
took O'Conner to the village and summoned all the miners to a meet- 
ing in the open air. Twelve men were selected and arranged on a 
log, in front of the accused, and he was asked if he had any objection 
to these acting as a jury in his case. He made no objection. The 
citizens selected a man to examine witnesses and speak on their be- 
half, and O'Connor selected a man to act on his behalf. After a brief 
trial the case went to the jury, and they rendered a decision that Pat- 
rick O'Conner was guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree, 
and that, in one month from the date of trial, at one o'clock p. m., he 
should be hanged. The sentence was executed precisely as the jury 
had decided. 

The Jury is an important agency in the administration of justice. 
In many nations there has been something like the jury system, but 
only in England and in governments founded by Englishmen, has 
the system been fully developed and preserved. We cannot tell when 
the jury system originated in England. We find customs which had 
some influence in forming the jury as far back as our knowledge ex- 
tends. In those wonderful town meetings of our Saxon ancestors 
there grew up a custom of the following description: An injured 



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person would stand up before the meeting, and in a formal manner 
would state a charge against his supposed injurer. To strengthen his 
charge he would get twelve men of approved character to join their 
hands and declare upon oath that they believed his words were true 
and faithful. The accused person might deny in a formal manner the 
truth of the charge and produce witnesses of approved character to 
join hands and swear wuth him to the truth of his denial. 

The object of this custom was to decide the case according to the 
facts. When this method failed, when witnesses were equally divid- 
ed, or if for any cause the meeting or court was not able to reach a 
satisfactory decision, they resorted to other methods of determining 
the facts. The accused person was thrown into deep water, and if he 
did not sink he was held to be innocent. Or he was blindfolded and 
compelled to walk over a space strown with hot irons, and if he was 
not burned he was held to be innocent. His hand was thrust into 
h ot water, and if he was not scalded he was innocent. The theory 
was that where man had failed to reach the facts by witnesses, God 
would in these ways indicate them. This method of trial was called 
trial by ordeal. The method of determining the facts by twelve 
sworn witn :sses was called trial by coinfiurgation. The twelve wit- 
nesses are called compurgators, or fellow-swearers. In either case, 
whether the trial was by compurgators or by ordeal, the final decision 
of the case rested with the organized meeting, or court. The accused 
was condemned or acquitted by the voice of his fellow-citizens in town 
meeting; or, if the proceedings were in hundred or county court, the 
representatives of towns and manors in these courts decided cases in 
the name of the entire communities which they represented. 

We have not, in these customs, the jury system; neither do we 
have much that resembles the jury. But there is this fact which can- 
not be overlooked in the history of the origin of the jury: twelve men 
were accustomed to join hands and voices and swear to the same 
thing in the presence of a body of citizens who were exercising the 
power of punishing crimes. 

There is evidence to the effect that King Etheired [991 A. D.] 
issued his orders to the sheriffs of the counties that they should choose 
twelve lawful men in each hundred, whose duty it should be to pre- 
sent to the hundred court for trial, all persons in the hundred suspect- 
ed of crime. They were to do their work faithfully and to accuse no 
man falsely. This, it will be observed, is quite similar to the work of 
our modern grand jury. 



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When William the Conquerer [1066] and his Norman army came 
into England and finally settled down to rule the land, the king was 
in great need of definite and accurate information as to the condition 
of his kingdom. He wanted to know how many estates there were 
in the realm, how many people there were on each estate and what 
was the rank and condition of each person, how much property there 
was and what were the customary services and rents. To secure the 
needed information on all these points, he ordered a general survey 
and census of the realm. One method employed for gaining informa- 
tion was to order his sheriffs to select twelve men of the neighborhood 
who were required to give, under oath, the facts demanded. 

This method of gaining information which the government needed, 
by twelve sworn witnesses of the neighborhood, was continued under 
other kings. The twelve sworn witnesses were called recognitors. 
As twelve men gave the government information as to the ownership 
of the estates it was but natural that the government should call upon 
twelve lawful men of the vicinity to assist in settling a case at law 
when the title to an estate was in dispute. This, in course of time, 
was exactly what happened. When an estate was in dispute one of 
the parties might apply to the court for a recognition. The sheriff was 
in that case ordered to summon four knights from the neighborhood. 
These four knights named twelve men who resided in the vicinity of 
the estate under dispute, and they were required to state under oath 
which of the two parties rightly owned the estate. If the twelve 
agreed, the case was settled; but if the twelve did not agree, then oth- 
ers were summoned, till twelve men were found who would make 
oath to the same thing. This sort of trial was called trial by recog- 
nition. 

Twelve men swearing to the same thing furnished the government 
information as to the number, rank and condition of the people; and 
upon this information the government based its system of taxation 
and military service. It was but natural that the government should 
adopt the same method for gaining information as to the law-abiding 
or criminal character of the citizens. This, in course of time, the gov- 
ernment did. Persons suspected of crime were presented to the court 
for trial by twelve sworn witnesses of the neighborhood. In the sys- 
tem of courts adopted by Henry II, [1166] provision was made for the 
regular summoning of twelve men from each hundred, and four from 
each township, a part of whose duties it was to present to the court 
persons for trial. Such a presentment was made by the oath of 
twelve men of the vicinity charging the individual with a definite 
crime. The person was then tried by ordeal or by battle. If the or- 



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deal failed to convict the person of the crime charged against him, he 
was, nevertheless, banished from the realm on account of the oath of 
his neighbors charging him with crime. We have in these laws a 
mixture of two methods of trial ; witnesses were used to present the 
person for trial, upon their own knowledge of the case, and the ordeal 
was used to prove the validity of the charge. 

Before the giving of Magna Charta [1216] trial by ordeal had been 
abolished throughout Christendom by the authority of the Church. 
In England, without any reference to this general action of the 
Church, a habit had grown up of substituting a jury for the ordeal in 
the trial of a criminal. This jury was called a Petit Jury, to distin- 
guish it from the larger jury, which receives the name of Grand Jury. 
In the grand jury there were twelve lawful men from the hundred 
and four from each township in the hundred. The exact number 
would depend upon the number of townships in the hundred. In la- 
ter times the grand jury came to consist of twenty-four persons. 
Twelve names were always required for an indictment or a present- 
ment, and as this was only half of the jury of twenty-four the number 
w r as changed to twenty-three, so that the indictment would be signed 
by a majority. This is, at present, the number of an English grand 
jury. In America the number is not the same in all the states. 

The history of the grand jury, or the jury of accusation, is simple, 
and has been subject to few changes. The other work of juries is 
much more complex, and has undergone many changes. Magna 
Charta contains three allusions to the institutions out of w T hich our 
trial jury has come. The first provides that three varieties of civil 
cases shall be tried in county court, by the king's justices; and it 
seems to be assumed that this will be done by recog?iitio?is. We have 
seen that a recognition is had by the summoning of twelve recogni- 
tors who shall, under oath, agree to the same facts. The second 
clause provides that fines shall be assessed by the oath of honest men 
of the neighborhood. This again, was by twelve witnesses, or recog- 
nitors, w r ho made oath from what they knew of the case. The third 
is the part of Magna Charta most frequently quoted. "No freeman 
shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseized, or outlawed, or exiled, or 
anyways destroyed; nor will we go upon him, nor will we send upon 
him, unless by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the 
land." This is held to be a general statement of the principle out of 
which trial by jury has come, rather than any allusion to specific cus- 
toms. 

We have seen that before the coming of the Normans, two methods 
of trial were common in English courts; trial by ordeal and trial by 



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compurgation, or the sworn testimony of twelve witnesses on either 
side of a case. The Normans, it seems, were accustomed to trial by 
ordeal but were not accustomed to trial by compurgation. The Nor- 
mans had one method of trial which was wholly new to the English. 
It was trial by battle. Two men would fight in the presence of the 
court and the case was decided by the result of the battle. This meth- 
od was offensive to the English; yet among the Normans it seems to 
have been the method in common use. The English, in towns and 
boroughs where they were massed together and were in a condition 
to preserve most of their ancient customs, held on to their method of 
trial by compurgation. Trial by battle prevailed in the country where 
the Norman lords were supreme. In course of time this method was 
forced upon most of the towns as well. This was not done without a 
contest. If the English yielded to the-more brutal Norman method, 
they, at least, held to the memory of their own more just and rational 
way. Two stories preserved to us from this period of our history give 
a vivid picture of this contest. 

I copy from Green's History of the English People: "At Leices- 
ter the trial by compurgation, the rough predecessor of trial by jury, 
had been abolished by the Earls in favor of trial by battle. The aim 
of the burgesses was to regain their old justice, and in this a touching 
incident at last made them successful. It chanced that, two kinsmen, 
Nicholas, the son of Aeon and Geoffrey the son of Nicholas, waged a 
duel about a certain piece of land, concerning which a dispute had 
arisen between them ; and they fought from the first to the ninth hour, 
each conquering by turns. Then one of them fleeing from the other 
till he came to a certain little pit, as he stood on the brink of the pit 
and was about to fall therein, his kinsman said to him, 'Take care of 
the pit, turn back, lest thou shouldst fall into it.' Thereat so much 
clamor and noise was made by the bystanders and those who were 
sitting around that the Earl heard these clamors as far off as the cas- 
tle, and he enquired of some how it was there was such a clamor, and 
answer was made to him that two kinsmen were fighting about a cer- 
tain piece of ground, and that one had fled till he reached a certain 
little pit, and that as he stood over the pit and was about to fall into it 
the other warned him. Then the townsmen being moved with pity, 
made a covenant with the Earl that they should give him threepence 
yearly for each house in the High Street that had a gable, on condi- 
tion that he should grant to them that the twenty-four jurors who 
were in Leicester from ancient times should from that time forward 
discuss and decide all pleas they might have among themselves." 
The other incident is from the historv of St. Edmundsbury, and it 



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gives an insight into the way in which the English method of trial by 
compurgation, preserved or regained in English towns, was extended 
to the surrounding country. The townsmen of St. Edmundsbury 
were living in the enjoyment of the right of trial by compurgation ; 
while just outside the walls of the town the Norman method of trial 
by battle, prevailed. A man by the name of Kebel was tried by bat- 
tle, and the battle went against him. He was accordingly condemned 
and hanged just outside the walls of the town. It seems that Kebel's 
neighbors knew that he was innocent, and the townsmen said "Had 
Kebel been a dweller within the borough he would have got his ac- 
quittal from the oaths of his neighbors, as our liberty is." The monks, 
who were lords of the estate, were thereupon moved to extend the 
same liberties to their tenants. 

It would seern, if we viewed these incidents alone, that the English 
possessed the seeds of trial by jury and the Normans were trying to 
destroy them; yet the fact is these kings from France did much for 
the establishment of the jury system. The method of getting all sorts 
of information which the government needed, by twelve witnesses 
from the neighborhood, was an ancient French habit. To England 
this was entirely new. Had it not been for this French method of 
inquest by sworn witnesses, we have no good reason to believe that 
the jury system would have been fully developed. When these for- 
eign kings called to their courts twelve lawful men of the vicinity to 
decide on oath, who was the rightful owner of a piece of land under 
dispute, they did a thing quite agreeable to the English people be- 
cause.it gave them a means of escape from the dreaded trial by battle, 
and it was in accord with their own ancient customs; yet, from the 
standpoint of the kings themselves, it was simply an application of 
their own peculiar system. When thes^ French kings required sworn 
witnesses of the hundred to present to their courts for trial such per- 
sons as were suspected of crime, they did a thing not out of harmony 
with English custom, for English kings before had done the same; 
yet to the Frenchman it seemed an application of his own method of 
inquest by sworn recognitors. When the courts established by Nor- 
man kings took the persons presented for trial by the oath of recogni- 
tors and hurled them into deep water as a farther test of the question 
of guilt or innocence, they did what both Frenchmen and Englishmen 
were accustomed to see; yet to Frenchmen and Englishmen alike 
this method was becoming unpopular. And when, in 12 15, the year 
before Magna Charta, the Church decreed tbat there should be no 
more trial by ordeal, the Englishman was on hand with an ancient 
custom, preserved in his towns through ages of revolution, which 



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seemed well fitted to take the place of trial by ordeal. The French- 
man, at this point left to himself, would have substituted trial by bat- 
tle for the ordeal. 

But these kings from France, on account of their national system 
of inquest by witnesses, were now ready when the ordeal was abol- 
ished, to put in its place twelve sworn witnesses from the neighbor- 
hood of the person charged with crime, whose duty it was from their 
own particular knowledge of the facts, to either affirm or deny the 
charge. If the twelve persons agree the case is decided upon their 
oath; if they do not agree others are added till twelve are found who 
make oath to the same thing. When this system was established by 
foreign kings the Englishman had no farther use for his venerable cus- 
tom of trial by compurgation ; the French recognition has in it all that 
is valuable of the English compurgation. It was this union of French 
and English which gave to England the jury system. The national 
system of inquest by recognition would never have produced the jury 
if it had not been for the strong and persistent customs of local gov- 
ernment in the English towns. The local customs of England would 
not have been organized into a national system had it not been for 
the French inquest. 

It will be observed that the twelve recognitors who take the place 
of the ordeal are not jurymen in our sense of the word; they were 
witnesses rather; they were chosen because of their special knowl- 
edge of the case ; they decided the case upon their own knowledge ; 
they received no information from others. In the time of Henry III. 
special witnesses were sometimes summoned and united with the 
jury in their verdict. Mention is made in the year-book of Edward III 
(1327) of special witnesses being joined to the jury to give them in- 
formation, but they did not join with them in the verdict. 

A more important change occurred during the reign of Henry IV. 
(1399-1413). All evidence was presented in open court so that the 
judges might exclude improper testimony. This change paved the 
way for the development of the rules of evidence in the common law 
of England and America, and it "opened the flood-gates of forensic 
eloquence" on the part of advocates. 

After this time no one can fail to recognize the modern jury. Wit- 
nesses are examined and cross-examined and the judge instructs them 
as to the sort of evidence to be used in making up their verdict; at- 
torneys argue the case before the jury; yet there were still left some 
of the characteristics of the ancient recognitors and compurgators. 
Juries were still chosen because of their supposed knowledge of the 
case ; they still used their own personal knowledge in addition to the 



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CLtowrTh f S"T ^ ne ' a hUndr6d ^' ears after the Ending of 
Jamestown, that the English court* h*<* tk„f t 
own knowledge in maktf »nT , h at ,f a juryman used his 
sworn as a w,W T g P '' roind in the case > h e should be 
swoin as a witness and examined in or en court. There were later 

h 'S^t?^ V Uryman Sh<U,d n ° ; b - witniCand t 
The mrv d endrelj UP °" evidence Panted in court. 

^ for holdi/g an in^ter a ^^ "^ * 

s;c:;r n :x:tsr ^ ™ - - - -= 

The laws of Iowa provide for a grand jury in each county. Seven 
>-five persons in the county are named by the judges of e ection in 
the voting precincts and the names are sent to the° count, ^auditor 

IZTouZ ef ° re f the ° Penlng ° f the diSt ' ict «"* *e a^dt: 
drawn f ■ PS Papei " the " ameS ° f a11 the P ersons "able to be 

XsZi U T T m C,Crk ° f the C ° Uit P " tS he - -™- into a box 
nameVatlu 7 Ug 7 ^ ^^ ° Ut ***"■ The *««" -hose 
onThe ia'd ' T n 3re "° tified b * 'he sheriff to appear and serve 
on the grand jury during the sittings of the district court for the .pace 

: Z a : N ° P6 T Ca " be Wed for c ™e -fore the dis trie c^ t 
exee pt appeals unless the grand jury make, an indictment agains 

m nt rt e ° f f ; e fift6en JUr ° rS ^ ' e *™ d to «PP-e the mdic - 
cases' A?! 8 " ?" " ?**« *° d ° With *">' «*** "™mal 
-eTdu^gts s~ r' "'^ n ° Crimina,S t; - ""-*"> ** - 

the A St h o^the 6 VentJ ; fiVe " ameS "^ * "" *"*» ° f electi °n in 
sent or ntt Wy, one hundred and fifty other names are 

sent, o,, a the more populous counties, two hundred and fifty. These 

are drawn to serve m the district and circuit courts. These are drawn 

Xc jwl OI the C ° UnS a " d SUmm °- d ta ^ "« manner as 

Trial juries are used in both criminal and civil cases . In crimina , 

meTts oLT ^ *? * ^ ^'™ * *■ case, and thITrgu 
ments of attorneys, receive instruction in the law from the jud^e and 
hen «„„„. their ^ Qr verdfct ^ caseg judge, a^d 

p ty rr 68 T '' the qUeSUOn ° f the e uHt ° r fonocence of the 
decree he ZZ 7^- " *" *«?"**" for murder in the first 
S th T 6 J "' V deter n»mes whether or not the convict shall be 
hangea. In other cases the court affixes the penalty. 



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CHAPTEB 22TVIX. 

NOTARY PUBLIC. 



Among the Romans, as early as the time of Augustus, B. C. 27, 
those who prepared contracts were accustomed to note down in brief 
what was said, write it out in full afterwards and secure the signatures 
of the contracting parties. These were called notani. From these 
we get the name notary. At first the Roman notarii in order to have 
the contracts which they drew up accepted as evidence by the courts, 
were obliged to go before a magistrate and make a declaration of their 
tenor and have them entered upon the public records. 

Later, a class of officers arose who had authority to draw up con- 
tracts and statements which were accepted by the courts without be- 
ing attested by a magistrate. These officers among the Romans re- 
ceived a different name, but their work corresponds to that of the mod- 
ern notary public. Modern European nations adopted the office 
from the Romans. During the middle ages notaries were appointed 
by popes or emperors. 

The office of notary is familiar in all civilized and commercial na- 
tions. In England notaries are appointed by the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury. In most of the states of the Union they are appointed by 
the governor. Notaries in the United States are, in a certain sense, 
county officers, in that they must state in their notices that they are 

notaries public "in and for county." In Iowa, if a notary 

changes his residence to another county he ceases to be a notary. 

Business men generally prefer to have all deeds, mortgages, and 
important papers attested by a notary public, or some officer who has 
a seal, rather than by a justice of peace. If parties outside of Iowa 
wish to make a conveyance of land in Iowa, they are required by law 
to have the deed acknowledged before an officer with an official seal, 
or, if before a justice, the fact that he is a justice must be attested by 
an officer with an official seal. The governor, in addition to the no- 
taries in all parts of the state appoints a number of notaries and com- 
missioners for Iowa in other states. 

Business men of Iowa prefer to have deeds attested by an officer 
whom our governor has appointed rather than by a local officer in 
other states. If in a foreign country one wishes to make a transfer of 



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the title to land in Iowa, he must have it acknowledged before a con- 
sul or some United States officer, or, if before some foreign officer, a 
United States officer must certify to the legality and genuineness of 
the acknowledgement. 



OH^^^TEIS XVIII 

DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT. 



The work of governing has three quite distinct parts. First, it 
must be decided what the government will do, and how it will do it; 
that is, laws are made or adopted, and ways and means provided for 
carrying these laws into effect. This department of the work of gov- 
erning belongs to what is called the Legislative Department. The 
actual doing of the things determined upon and provided for by the 
legislative department, is left to what is called the Executive Depart- 
ment. All laws are not understood, and laws which are understood, 
are not obeyed; crimes are committed, rights are violated, grievances 
arise, disputes occur between citizens which they cannot settle. To 
interpret the law and apply it to particular cases, to determine the 
rights of litigants, and to enforce the law against criminals, courts are 
established. This part of the work of governing, belongs to what is 
called the Judicial Department. 

For the legislative department in the state, we have, first, the state 
legislature, which makes general laws and establishes and provides 
for the support of state institutions; second, local boards in counties, 
townships and school districts, which, in obedience to state law, estab- 
lish local institutions and provide for the support of local government; 
third, town and city councils, which make local laws for the govern- 
ment of towns, and provide for the support of town government. The 
local boards of counties, townships and school districts are executive 
rather than legislative bodies. The town council is, in part, an exec- 
utive, but is chiefly a legislative body. 

The work of the legislative department is but a small part of the 
work of governing. The state legislature holds a session of two or 
three months, once in two years. It is called the law-making body, 
yet it makes few laws. The great body of laws under which we live 
has existed for centuries. Our legislatures have adopted them. Only 
such slight changes and additions are made as increased experience 



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and changing circumstances seemed to demand. The state govern- 
ment is as often injured by too many statutes as by too few. The 
first state legislature put the business management of our county gov- 
ernments into the hands of three men, elected by the county ; another 
legislature afterward put it into the hands of one man ; another, still 
later, put the county management into the hands of a body of men, 
chosen, one by each township; again this was changed, and the board 
of three supervisors was established. Now, if this is really the best 
system, it would have been better for the state to have chosen legisla- 
tors wise enough to let the first law alone. 

Law-making, from the very nature of the work, is limited. The 
work is finished when the best possible laws are established; but, as 
we are never sure that we have the best, we keep constantly striving 
to get them. A city council soon enacts the ordinances essential to 
the city government, and the work of the council, after that, is to 
make slight additions or changes to meet new demands. 

The work of executing the laws, on the other hand, does not dimin- 
ish. The executive is the constantly working department of govern- 
ment. It is often called the government, because it is the part most 
seen. The great body of the officers of government belong to the ex- 
ecutive department. The general legislative work of the state is per- 
formed by one hundred and fifty men, actively employed two or three 
months in each alternate year. This work is supplemented by local 
boards in counties, tow T nships and school districts, and by city councils. 
The executive work of government in the state employs a great army 
of officers. There are seven thousand five hundred sub-directors. 
There are more than three thousand independent school districts. In 
each of these is a school board, consisting of from three to six persons. 
Altogether, for the administration of the school law in all the school 
districts of the state, there are not less than twenty-two thousand offi- 
cers. The officers charged with the government of the civil town- 
ships of Poweshiek County number two hundred and fifty-five. This 
county is of average size, and little more than average population. 
At this rate, the civil township officers for the entire state are twenty- 
five thousand. Add to these the officers for the government of towns, 
and the number cannot be less than fifty thousand For the adminis- 
tration of county government, there are more than a thousand officers. 
The state executive officers and the officers in charge of state institu- 
tions number less than a hundred. 

From these facts it appears that the greater part of the executive 
work of the state is in the hands of local officers within the limits of 
the civil township. These officers are nearly all chosen by the voters 



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of the town, township and school district, in whose interest they ad- 
minister the laws. The actual work of these officers is by no means 
so great as their number would indicate. Most of them spend only a 
small portion of their time in official service, and many of them re- 
ceive no compensation. The aggregate work of these officers, how- 
ever, is great, much more than the executive work of county and 
state government. 

There are a half-dozen officers in each county whose official duty 
requires their entire time, and some of them employ assistants. There 
are also a few state executive officers who are thus employed. The 
Governor is called the State Executive, or the chief executive officer 
of the state; yet, ordinarily, he has almost nothing to do with admin- 
istering the laws of the state. His duties in connection with the 
making of laws are much more important. State laws are executed 
by counties, townships, towns, and school districts. 

The legislative department has determined what shall be done by 
way of government, and executive officers have been chosen to do the 
things prescribed; but, if a particular executive officer fails or refuses 
to perform his duty, government is thus far at an end, unless a reme- 
dy is provided. One remedy which the law provides in such a case 
is to bring the delinquent before a court and compel him to do his 
duty, or punish him for refusing. Courts are thus used as a compell- 
ing force to the executive. But the greater part of the work of courts 
is to settle cases which arise between individuals in their ordinary 
business transactions. The law is not understood, or, if understood, 
it is not willingly observed by both parties ; there is a disagreement 
as to facts, or, from some cause, one party is aggrieved, and he seeks 
relief by bringing the case before a court. The question as to the 
facts may be determined by a jury who hear the testimony. The 
court declares the law in the case, and renders a decision according 
to law. When a crime is committed the state is the aggrieved party, 
and action is brought in the name of the state. 

Courts, in the objects which they accomplish, are closely allied to 
the executive work of governing, but in the means which they use in 
deciding cases, they are allied to the legislative department. They 
interpret the law, add new meaning to the law, and, in effect, make 
new laws. It is impossible, in written statutes, to provide for all the 
particulars and details which may arise in the administration of the 
law. The statutes are general in their terms; they embody principles 
of justice. The courts apply the law to particular cases. 

The decisions of higher courts have the force of law with lower 
courts. As these decisions multiply, the additions to the law from 



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this source come to be of great importance. 

The legislative, executive and judicial work are not entirely in the 
hands of separate officers. The local boards in counties, townships, 
school districts, and town councils, have both legislative and execu- 
tive functions. The mayor, as a member of town council, has legis- 
lative duties ; he is chief executive officer of the town, and he may be 
the chief judicial officer of a town. The justice of peace has chiefly 
judicial duties, but he has some executive duties. 

There are acts of government which are not easily classified, and it 
is not wise to push this division into departments too far. Such a 
division is useful so far as it is an aid to the understanding of govern- 
ment. If it is carried out too minutely, it becomes a source of confu- 
sion. A court cannot perform its work without a ministerial officer 
to execute its processes. Does this officer belong to the executive or 
judicial department? A justice of the peace is his own clerk, keeps 
his own records. The district and circuit courts have their records 
kept by the county clerk. To which department of government does 
the county clerk belong? These are fruitless questions. If you 
know what constables, sheriffs and marshals do, and what clerks of 
courts do, you have all that is essential. It is a matter of little con- 
sequence where they are classified. It is only among the higher offi- 
cers of government that this division into departments is of real 
importance. 



OUTLINE OF THE THREE DEPARTMENTS OF 
GOVERNMENT IN THE STATE. 



M;>ke general laws for 
the State, and provide 
for support of State in- 
stitutions. 



I. Legislative. 



1 $ General j Senate. 
M Assembly. 1 House . 



2. County Supervisors. 



3. Township Trustees. 



4. School Board. 



Establish local in- 
stitutions and provide 
for the support of lo- 
cal government. 



5. Town or City Council. 



Makes laws for gov- 
ernment of Town, and 
provides for support of 
Town government. 





1. State - 


' Governor. 
Lieutenant-Governor. 
Secretary of State. 
Auditor. 
Treasurer. 






Superintendent of Public In- 
struction. 
Officers in charge of State 
L Institutions. 


II. Executive. 


2. County ■ 


' Board of Supervisors. 

Auditor. 

Treasurer. 

Eecorder. 

Sheriff. 

Coroner. 

Clerk. 

Surveyor. 
. Superintendent. 




3. Township.... « 


' Road Supervisors. 

Trustees. 
Clerk. 
Assessor. 
Justices. 
Constables. 
, School Officers. 




4. Town or City. - 


' Mayor. 

Recorder. 

Council. 

Treasurer. 

Assessor. 
fc Police. 




l. Supreme Court. 


III. Judicial. 


( District Court. 
2. Courts of Record. < 

( Circuit Court. 




3. Justice's, Mayor's, and Police Courts. 



(68) 



THE STATE AND NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. 



There are other advantages of government which the people of 
Iowa enjoy in common with all the people in the United States. 
Each state has a government which performs nearly the same acts as 
those performed by the state of Iowa. The government of a state is 
limited strictly to its own geographical boundaries. A man commits 
a crime and escapes from the state; the state has no power to bring 
him back. A law of the United States enables the state to do this. A 
debtor changes his residence beyond the limits of the state; the cred- 
itor can find no power in the state to bring him back. A law of the 
United States gives the creditor all the benefits of the courts in the 
state where the debtor is found, that the citizens of that state enjoy. 
If local prejudice prevents him from securing justice, he can bring 
his action in a United States court. 

A citizen traveling in a foreign country has no protection from his 
state government. The United States government has officers placed 
in all the leading cities frequented by American travelers and traders, 
to look after their rights and interests. Mr. Parsons, an American 
citizen, was murdered in Turkey. No one thought of asking in what 
state Mr. Parsons was born, or in what state he lived. It was the 
United States government which demanded of the Turkish govern- 
ment that the murderer of Mr. Parsons should be punished. 

Persons in the states communicate, through the mails, with all 
parts of the world. This business is entirely in the hands of the na- 
tional government; it is the part of the United States government 
with which we are most familiar. Postmasters and mail agents are 
everywhere seen, and the work which they perform brings them in 
contact with all the people. A postoffice is located in every town and 
neighborhood, but the postal service is not local, it is national and in- 
ternational; it involves business transactions with all civilzed nations. 
It belongs, therefore, to the national and not to state government. 

The United States government supplements the government of the 
state, in that it enables the state to recover its escaped criminals; it 
enables the citizen of a state to enforce his claims against citizens of 
other states, and it assists the state, in case of rebellion or invasion, to 
protect its citizens and maintain order. The United States govern- 
ment keeps the peace between the states. They have no dealings 



(69) 



with each other except under United States law, or through United 
States officials. The state government is limited to matters of local 
interest. The United States government is limited to matters of 
national interest. 

In addition to the postal service, one of the greatest blessings se- 
cured to the people through the national government, is free inter- 
course and commerce throughout all the states and territories. Busi- 
ness and travel know no state lines. There is a common protection, 
and a common administration of justice. All labor and all produce 
are free to find and enjoy the best markets. In order to secure to all 
sections of the nation the full advantages of this free commercial in- 
tercourse, there is need of a common standard of value. This is se- 
cured by the United States government fixing npon a coin of a given 
weight and purity, as the standard of value, and forbidding to the 
states the right to coin money, or to make anything a legal tender ex- 
cept the coin established by the national government. All civilized 
nations use gold or silver as a measure of value, but, as a matter of 
convenience, paper bills, promising to pay coin, have come into gen- 
eral use in effecting exchanges. These bills have no value except as 
they enable the bearer to secure the coin of which they are the prom- 
ise. Such bills have sometimes been issued by state banks, and at 
other times by national banks. But, to secure equal protection to ail 
sections, it is necessary that such bills should be under the control of 
the national government. 

In form the United States government is similar, in many respects, 
to the state government. It has a legislative department, called Con- 
gress, consisting of two houses, Senate and House of Representatives. 
The Senate has seventy-six members and the House two hundred 
and ninety-three. 

There is an executive department, of which the President is the 
head. This department is charged with the duty of carrying into 
effect the laws of Congress in every part of the world. 

There is also a judicial department, which interprets the laws and 
assists the executive in carrying the laws into effect. 

We have seen in the state of Iowa that one hundred and fifty men 
are chosen to make the laws for the government of the state, and fifty 
thousand officers are chosen to carry the laws into effect. 

In the general government three hundred and sixty-nine men are 
chosen to make the laws, and more than sixty thousand are selected 
to carry the laws into effect. 

. In the state government, of the fifty thousand chosen to administer 
the laws, the greater part spend only a small portion of their time in 



(70) 



the work of their office, and many of them get no pay for what they 
do. In the United States government, the greater part of the sixty 
thousand chosen to execute the laws, are expected to spend all their 
time in the service of government, and they are paid for their entire 
time. 

The filling of nearly all of the state executive offices, is put into the 
hands of the towns, townships, school districts and counties, and the 
officers are chosen by the votes of their neighbors, in whose behalf 
they administer the laws. 

One executive office of the United States is filled by an election. 
This is the Presidency. The other executive officers are appointed. 
There are more than sixty thousand of them. Their duties require 
that they shall be scattered in every part of the country, and many of 
them in other parts of the world. To secure the proper persons to 
fill all these offices, and to secure efficiency, economy and honesty in 
the work of all these officers, is an arduous task. This task is laid 
upon President. He either makes the appointments himself, or ap- 
points other men who do this. The appointments to the chief offices 
are made by the President and confirmed by the Senate. 

From these facts it appears that there is a vast difference between 
the executive department of the state of Iowa and that of the United 
States government. 

The governor of the state has very little to do in the work of execu- 
ting state law. The President of the United States is made personally 
responsible for the doing of a work that requires the constant labor of 
more than sixty thousand persons. The work is of many kinds and 
in many places, and he must find his men and do the work. 

If the state of Iowa should abolish all township, county, and city 
governments, and should make it the duty of the governor to find and 
appoint to office, all the persons necessary to carry all the laws of the 
state into effect, then the executive of the state would be similar to 
the United States executive. The United States executive is central- 
ized and personal; the state executive is decentralized and in the 
hands of local municipalities. 

The courts of Iowa and the courts of the United States have many 
points of similarity. The Supreme Court of Iowa has five judges, 
and hears appeals from district and circuit courts. The Supreme 
Court of the United States has a chief justice and eight associate 
judges. It has original jurisdiction in cases affecting ambassadors 
and states, and hears appeals from district and circuit courts of the 
United States. Iowa district and circuit courts number fourteen each. 
They have the same geographical limits, and, in ordinary cases, con- 



(71) 

current jurisdiction. The circuit courts of the United States are nine 
in number, and the district courts are forty. They have concurrent 
jurisdiction in some cases, but the circuit court is a higher court, and, 
in some cases, hears appeals from the district court; in other cases, 
the appeal from the district court is to the supreme court. 

There are United States commissioners who hold preliminary ex- 
aminations in cases of persons charged with crime against the United 
States. These officers do a work corresponding to that of the justice 
of peace in cases of serious crime — examine and commit to prison the 
person against whom sufficient evidence of crime has been brought. 
The person is then held till the case can come before a grand jury, 
and a district or circuit court of the United States. 

Besides the supreme court, circuit and district courts and United 
States commissioners, there is a court of claims, in which claims 
against the United States are heard and adjusted. There are also 
courts for the government of territories, and the District of Columbia. 

The judges in Iowa are all elected by popular vote, for a term of 
years, two being the shortest and six the longest term. United States 
judges, commissioners, marshals, clerks, and all who have anything 
to do with judicial work are appointed. The judges are appointed 
for life, or during good behavior. 

All together, those who serve and receive pay from the United 
States government in all departments during each year, are about one 
hundred thousand, not including the army and navy. Of these, all 
except congressmen, president and vice-president are appointed or 
hired. There is thus a great army of officials and employes depend- 
ent upon the government. Since 1829, it has been customary to ap- 
point to office only the members of the political party which has suc- 
ceeded in electing the president. Under this system, our presidential 
elections become a contest, not for one place of trust and profit, but 
for a hundred thousand. If one candidate is elected, a hundred thou- 
sand men are in danger of losing their places ; an opposite result dis- 
appoints a hundred thousand more, who expect to get desirable posi- 
tions. Two hundred thousand men have a personal and pecuniary 
interest in the results of a presidential election. With political parties 
almost equally divided, the change of a few hundred votes will some- 
times determine the result; and, as there are already thousands actu- 
ated by pecuniary and personal considerations, the temptation is very 
strong to extend pecuniary considerations to the few hundreds more, 
necessary to secure the prize. While we had as a political issue an 
institution which involved the ownership of four millions of slaves, 
the contest for office was overshadowed by a real political question. 



(72) 



But with the disappearance of this overshadowing issue, the contest 
between political parties becomes more and more a contest for the 
personal and pecuniary advantages of office. Political questions hold 
a secondary place, and are often put forward as mere mask. In such 
a contest, the most unscrupulous enjoy great advantages. 

In our state elections, each office stands on its own merits. There 
are usually just two men who have a personal and pecuniary interest 
in the result of the election to each office. The prize is just what it 
seems to be, an office and a salary, nothing more. In such an elec- 
tion, personal and pecuniary considerations have little effect on the 
election. Voters are influenced by political questions. Candidates 
have no patronage to offer. They promise, instead, some public 
advantage, some improvement in the government. The overpower- 
ing personal and pecuniary influences can be removed from our 
national elections by ceasing to treat the thousands of offices as a 
political prize — that is by filling the offices with sole reference to fit- 
ness for the duties. This was the policy introduced by Washington, 
and continued with little modification till Jackson inaugurated the 
spoils system. 

Thus far, nothing has been said of our written constitutions. Those 
who are familiar with the facts of state and national government have 
already mastered a large part of these constitutions. These docu- 
ments simply say that the various departments of government shall 
exist, and the various officers shall do the things which they are seen 
to be doing. These constitutions also forbid the government to do 
certain things which the people who ratified them feared that the 
government might do, to the injury of the people, if they were not 
expressly forbidden. The national constitution forbids certain things 
to the states; it confers certain powers upon the United States gov- 
ernment. It is understood that the state government has a right to 
perform any act of government not forbidden in the national or state 
constitution, and that the national government has no right to inter- 
fere with the state in the exercise of its constitutional powers. 

Questions of constitutional law and interpretation should not be 
introduced until after a thorough mastery of the facts of government. 
Our written constitutions are the outgrowth of long-established habits 
of government. Thousands of years before written constitutions 
were thought of, the Saxon race had a habit of attending to their own 
local affairs. When you begin the study of town and township gov- 
ernment, you reach at once what is in reality oldest and most funda- 
mental in our constitution. Out of this habit of local self-government, 
so firmly fixed that no tyrant could ever destroy it, has come the 



(73) 



power of the people in national government. The national govern- 
ment and national constitution are understood, when they are 
approached, step by step, from local government. The attempt to 
reverse this order, leads to confusion and error. 



COMPENSATION OF OFFICERS. 



Teachers are often confronted with the troublesome questions: 
How is this officer chosen? How much is he paid for his services? 
What is his term of office? The object of this chapter is to group 
together in compact form some answers to these questions. 

The President of the United States is chosen by electors in the sev- 
eral states, who are themselves chosen by the people. His term of 
office is four years, and he receives a salary of $50,000. 

The Vice President of the United States is chosen in the same 
manner and at the same time as the President. His salary is $8,000. 

United States Senators are chosen by the legislatures of the states. 
They serve six years, aud receive a salary of $5,000. In addition to 
salary their travelling expenses are paid, and there is an allowance of 
$125 for stationery, &c. There are two Senators from each state. 

The States are divided into Representative Districts, and each dis- 
trict chooses by a popular vote a Representattve to Congress. These 
serve two years and receive the same compensation as Senators. The 
number oi Representatives is three hundred and twenty-four. 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives receives a salary of 
$8,000. 

The members of the President's Cabinet receive $8,000 per year. 
They are seven in number, are appointed by the President, and have 
no fixed term of office. 

The one hundred thousand persons, more or less, who are required 
to do the executive work of the Federal Government, are all of them 
appointed. The more important are appointed by the President, with 
the approval cf the Senate; others are appointed by the President 
alone, or by the heads of departments or other persons whom the 
President has appointed. Some are simply hired as laborers and 
receive no regular appointment. 

The compensation of these public servants varies from the wages 



(74) 



of ordinary unskilled laborers, to $8,000. The post-master of New 
York City receives $8,000. 

The term of office for many of the public officials is fixed by law at 
four years. Others have no fixed limit. 

The Chief Justice of the United States is appointed by the Presi- 
dent with the approval of the Senate. He receives a salary of $10,500. 
The eight Associate Justices of the Supreme Bench receive salaries 
of $10,000 each. 

There is a Circuit Judge for each of the nine circuits of the United 
States, who receives a salary of $6,000. 

There are about sixty District Judges, and they receive a salary of 
$3,000 or $4,000. 

All judges in Federal courts are appointed by the President with 
the approval of the Senate, and they "hold their office during good 
behavior." 

STATE OFFICIALS. 

In the United States Government the offices are filled chiefly by 
appointment. In the state nearly all offices are filled by a popular 
election. 

State Senators are chosen in senatorial districts. They are fifty in 
number, serve four years, and receive $550 per session and 5 cents 
mileage. 

Representatives are chosen by districts; are one hundred in num- 
ber, serve two years, and receive the same compensation as Senators. 

The Governor receives a salary of $3,000. The Secretary of State, 
Auditor, Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction receive 
each $2,200. 

Judges of the Supreme Court receive $4,000. The Attorney Gen- 
eral receives $1500 salary, and five dollars per day in additon for time 
occupied in the courts. 

District and Circuit Judges receive $2,200. District Attorneys re- 
ceive $600 salary, and attorney's fees in addition for cases in the 
courts. 

County clerks of the District and Circuit Courts are paid out of fees 
collected in the office. Clerks in the less populous counties are al- 
lowed to retain fees collected in their office to the amount of $1100; 
all received above this sum they are required to pay into the county 
treasury. In the more populous counties the limit is $1200 or $1500. 
The Supervisors of the county may increase this sum in counties of 
more than forty thousand inhabitants. 

The Sheriff receives a salary, fixed by the supervisors, of not less 



(75) 



than $200 nor more than $400, and in addition the legal fees connect- 
ed with his office. 

Members of the Board of Supervisors are paid $4 per day for ses- 
sion-work and $2.50 per day for committee work. They are allowed 
6 cents mileage, and are not allowed pay for more than twenty days 
session-work per year, in the less populous counties, nor more than 
forty days in the more populous. 

The County Recorder is allowed all the legal fees of his office. 

The County Treasurer receives a per cent of the moneys handled 
by him, but the aggregate sum received cannot exceed certain fixed 
sums, depending upon the population of the county and the existence 
of township collectors. The least sum fixed for a Treasurer is $1,200. 
and this in counties having township collectors. The largest sum 
fixed is $1,500. This may be increased by the Board of Supervisors. 

The County Auditor receives the fees collected in his office. His 
compensation is limited by the statute to $1,200. The Supervisors 
may increase this sum in the more populous counties. 

The County Surveyor receives $4 per day for his services, and is 
paid by those who employ him. He is allowed fifty cents for a certi- 
fied copy of field notes. 

The Coroner receives five dollars for the holding of an inquest, and 
certain other fees. 

The County Superintendent of Public Instruction receives $4 per 
day. 

The Supervisors have power to hire assistants for the various coun- 
ty officers. The maximum salary for an assistant is $600. 

The Supervisors may hire a superintendent of the Poor-Farm, 
bridge-builders, and such other assistants as the county needs. 

In cities and incorporated towns the compensation of the council or 
trustees shall not exceed one dollar for each member for each meet- 
ing, and shall not exceed $50 per year. 

The Mayor of a city or town is paid such a salary as the city or 
town government may establish by ordinance, and the salary can be 
neither increased nor diminished during his term of office. 

Marshals in towns and cities are paid out of fees collected by the 
courts. 

Town and city councils have quite a large range of power in the 
employment and compensation of needed public servants. 

Township Trustees are paid $2 per day for time of actual service, 
and are allowed special fees for fence-viewing and other services. 

The Township Clerk receives $2 per day and is allowed fees, and 
five per cent of the money coming into his hands as treasurer. 



(76) 



The Assessor is allowed $2 per day for time of actual service. 

Justices and Constables are paid from fees connected with their 
service. 

Jurors receive $2 per day, and ten cents mileage. Witnesses in 
justice's court receive 50 cents per day and five cents mileage; in a 
court of record, $1.25 and five cents mileage. 

For experts the court may allow special compensation. 

Road Supervisors are paid daily wages fixed by the Trustees. 

School officers, for the most part, serve without pay. 

Any session of the legislature, or of Congress, in the case of Fed- 
eral officers, may make changes in the compensation of officers. 



(77) 



aZEaCA^TIEIR ZEZ2EI. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR ORIGINAL STUDY. 



■*- 



Fig. i. 



Some teachers have succeeded in awakening an interest in civil 
government by holding elections in their schools, and in this way 
choosing pupils to certain offices. These are expected to inform 
themselves in any way they can of the duties of their office, and re- 
port to the school. There may be organized in the school, a school 
district, a township, a town or City government, and a county govern- 
ment, giving sufficient time to each one to master the chief facts. 
Some teachers have had good success with this plan of instruction. 
Each school should make a special study of the peculiarities of its 
own locality. If it is a country school, note how 
many districts there are in the township. How 
many pupils there are in each school. Could the 
school-houses be so located that each school would 
have enough pupils and all of them be conveniently 
near the school ? Which is the better shape for a 
district, the one indicated in Fig. i or Fig. 2. How 
much saving in money to the township if the dis- 
tricts contain five square miles instead of four? 
What is the cost of the bridges of the township? 
How much money is expended in all upon the roads 
of the township? How much in grading and filling? 
How much in open ditches? How much in tile 
Fig. 2. drainage? What advantages do the people have 

from the work on the roads? What proportion of the work has 
proved of no advantage? Has any way been devised to make good 
roads in Iowa? What are the most economical tools for road work? 

Who are the health officers of the locality? Do you know of any 
work done by the health officers? Are there things to which the 
attention of the health officers should be directed? 

In like manner there may be special studies of the care for the poor, 
cases at law, the valuation of property, etc. Pupils may be detailed 
to prepare a history of the township, its organization into road districts, 



4- 



(78) 

and into school districts, noting the various changes and the reasons 
for the same ; troubles growing out of the location of school-houses, 
and how they were adjusted; and difficulties in the location of roads, 
and how they were overcome. 

In towns and cities a multitude of special topics will suggest them- 
selves, by the careful observation and study of which, we may make 
it more likely that in the end we shall master that most difficult of 
subjects, the government of cities. To have good government in 
cities under the forms of popular government, the voters must have 
a knowledge of the real difficulties to be overcome. The schools in 
towns and cities should begin this work; they should cultivate a habit 
of observation of the working of city government; they should pro- 
duce a class of citizens so familiar with its intricate machinery that 
they cannot be easily deceived ; who can readily distinguish faithful 
and efficient service from the unfaithful and inefficient. 



-A-^FEisr^i:^ 



OUTLINE OF STSTE GOYERNMENT. 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT. 



OFFICERS. 


number. 


DUTIES. 


1 


School Officers. 


3 or more. 


Hire teachers. Build and repair school 
houses. Decide amount of funds for school 
purposes to he raised. 


2 


Uoad Supervisors 


One 

for each 

Road Dist. 


Collect road taxes. Repair roads, and 
require able-bodied citizens to labor on 
the highway. 


3 


Trustees. 


3 


Hold elections. Care for poor. Equalize 
assessments. Divide the Township into 
road districts. Determine the amount of 
road tax, and act as Fence Viewers. 


4 


Clerk. 


1 


Keeps records of Board of Trustees. Has 
charge of monev and property of Township, 
and acts as Clerk of Elections. 


5 


Assessor. 


1 


Assesses all taxable property in Town- 
ship, not included in Incorporated Town oi 
City. 


6 


Justice of Peace. 


2 or more. 


Acts as Peace Officer, and as Judge in 
minor cases, civil and criminal. Holds pre- 
liminary examinations in cases of more se- 
rious crime. 


7 


Constable. 


2 or more. 


Ministerial officer of Justice's Court. 




GOVERNMENT OF INCORPORATED TOWN. 




OFFICERS. 


NUMBER. 


DUTIES. 


i 


Mayor. 




Presides at meetings of Town Council. 
Sits as a court to enforce town ordinances. 


2 


Recorder. 




Clerk of Council. Signs orders on Treas- 
urer for payment of money, as directed by 
the Council 


3 


Trustees. 
(With Mayor & Re- 
cord e forming the 
City Council.) 




Make all laws or ordinances for govern- 
ment of town. Have charge of streets and 
sidewalks. Act as B<wd of Hciiltb for the 
town, an as a Board to equalize Assess- 
me ts in the 1 wn. 


4 


Treasurer. 




Keeps all moivy of the town, and pay- 
out money on orders signed bv the Re- 
corder. 


5 


Marshal. 




Ministerial officer of Town Government, 
Executes orders of Mayor. 


6 


Assessor. 




Assesses the taxable property within the 
town. 





COUNTY GOVERNMENT. 



OFFICERS. 


NUMBER. 


DUTIES. 


1 


Supervisors. 


8 to 7. 


Levy taxes. Examine and allow claims 
against the County. Have charge of all 
County property. Locate roads and build 
bridges. Have oversight of County officers . 
Canvass election returns. Equalize assess- 
ments between Townships. 


2 


Auditor. 


1 


Clerk of Board of Supervisors. Keeps 
records of money due County and money 
paid out by County. Issues orders upon 
Treasurer for payment of money. Has 
charge of school fund. 


3 


Treasurer. 


1 


Collects all taxes. Pays out money on 
orders signed by Auditor. 


1 


Recorder. 


1 


Records all deeds, mortgages, etc. 


5 


Surveyor. 


1 


Surveys real estate. 


6 


Sheriff. 


1 


Ministerial officer of District and Circuit 
Courts. Has care of prisoners. 


7 


Coroner. 


1 


Holds inquests. Acts as Sheriff. 


8 


Clerk. 


1 


Keeps records of District and Circuit 
Courts. Appoints administrators and guard- 
ians. Keeps records of marriages, births, 
and deaths. 


9 


Superintendent. 


1 


Examines teachers. Superintends schools 
in County. Hears cases of appeal from 
school boards. 



COURTS OF RECORD HELD IN THE COUNTY. 



cibctjit co-crrE^T 1 .. 



OFFICERS. 


NUMBER. ! DUTIES. 


1 


Circuit Judge. 


1 


Has exclusive jurisdiction in all matters 
of probate of wills, administration of es- 
tates, and matters of guardianship ; and of 
appeal in civil cases from inferior courts. 
Has general jurisdiction in all other cases, 
except criminal cases 


2 


Clkrk. 


1 


Records all proceedings of the Court, and 
issues all executions and writs. 


3 


Sheriff. 


1 


Executes all orders of the Court, issued 
by the Clerk, and serves all writs. 


4 


Petit Jury. 


12 


Hears evidence, and decides questions 
of fact between litigants. 



DISTBICT COTJBT. 



OFFICERS. 


number. 


DUTIES. 


1 


District Judge. 


1 


Has exclusive jurisdiction of criminal 
eases presented by the Grand Jury, and of 
all appeals of criminal cases from inferior 
co"r*s. Has general jurisdiction of all 
ither eases, except those given to Circuit 
Court. 


2 


Dist. Attorney. 


1 


Acts as Attorney in prosecution of crimi- 

ials. 


3 


Grand Jury. 


15 


Investigates crimes. Finds indictments 
against criminals. 


4 


Clerk. 






5 


Sheriff. 




Same duties as in Circuit Court. 


6 


Petit Jury. 




. 



STATE GOVERNMENT. 



LEG-ISLATIVE DEPAETMEHT. 



OFFICERS. 


number. 


DUTIES. 


1 


Senate. 


50 


Make Laws. 
( ! lie Senate and House of Repre- 


2 


House. 


100 


sentatives constitute the General As- 
sembly.) 



EXECUTIVE DEPAEiT^EllTT. 



1 


Governor. 


1 


Recommends legislation. Signs or vetoes 
bills passed by Legislature. Supervises 
State institutions Giants pardons and re- 
prieves. Makes appointments to office. 


2 


Lieut. -Governor 


l 


Presides over Senate. Becomes Governor 
in case of vacancy in that office. 


3 


Sec (etart of 
State. 


1 


Has charge of all records of laws, consti- 
tutions, and other State papers deposited 
i • his office. Signs and registers all com- 
missions issued by Governor. Reports to 
General Assembly criminal returns from 
District Courts. Keeps record of acts of 
incorporation of cities and towns. 


4 


Auditor. 


1 


Keeps all accounts of money due the 
State, and paid out by the State. Issues 
orders to Treasurer for payment of money. 
Has supervision of Insurance Companies 
and Savings Banks. 



STATE GOVERNMENT.— Executive Dep't Continued. 



OFFICERS. 


number. 


DUTIES. 


5 


Treasurer. 


1 


Keeps the money of the State, and pays 
it out, as ordered by Auditor. 


6 


Register 
of Land Office. 


1 


Keeps record of land owned by the State. 
(The duties of this office will be performed 
by the Secretary of State after March, l«83.) 



Superintendent i 

of Public 

Instruction. 



Has supervision of Public Schools. Coi- 
lecis educational information, and reports 
to the General Assembly. Hears cases of 
appeal from County Superintendents. 



TTJDICIAL D3PAETMENT. 



1 


Judges of 
Supreme Court. 


5 


Highest Court in the State. Hears cases 
appealed from lower Courts. 


2 


Clerk. 


1 


Keeps records of all proceedings of the 
Court. 


3 


Attorney 
General. 


Appears on behalf of the State in Su- 
1 pre rue Court. Gives legal advice to State 
officers. 


4 


Reporter. 


1 


Prepares for publication the decisions of 
Supreme Court. 



OBJECTS OF GOVERNMENT. 



/. Protection. \ f£S; 



Property. 



II. 



Poor. 



Care of Unfortunate. < sma. 

I Deaf and Dumb. 



Juvenile Criminals. 



III. Education. 



Common Schools. 
Normal Schools. 
Industrial Sclwols. 
Universities. 
Military Schools. 



IV. 



Public Improvement ( l^ a X E 



and 

General Welfare. 



jLH^uuua, Canals, Rivers & 
J Drainage. [Harbors. 

\ Public Bufldk 



ngs. 



I Postal Service. 
V Coining Money. 



SUPPORT OF GOVERNMENT. 



I. TAXATION. 



n. PERSONAL SERVICE. 



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